GCN5 protects vertebrate cells against UV-irradiation via controlling gene expression of DNA polymerase η

Abstract

By UV-irradiation, cells are subjected to DNA damage followed by mutation, cell death and/or carcinogenesis. DNA repair systems such as nucleotide excision repair (NER) and translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) protect cells against UV-irradiation. To understand the role of histone acetyltransferase GCN5 in regulation of DNA repair, we studied the sensitivity of GCN5-deficient DT40, GCN5-/-, to various DNA-damaging agents including UV-irradiation, and effects of GCN5-deficiency on the expression of NER- and TLS-related genes. After UV-irradiation, cell death and DNA fragmentation of GCN5-/- were appreciably accelerated as compared with those of DT40. Interestingly, GCN5-/- showed a remarkable sensitivity to only UV-irradiation but not to other DNA-damaging agents tested. Semiquantitative RT-PCR showed that transcription of DNA polymerase η (POLH) gene whose deficiency is responsible for a variant form of xeroderma pigmentosum was drastically down-regulated in GCN5-/- (to ∼25%). In addition, ectopic expression ofhuman POLH in GCN5-/- dramatically reversed the sensitivity to UV-irradiation of GCN5-/- to almost the same level of wild type DT40. Moreover, chromatin immunoprecipitation assay revealed that GCN5 binds to the chicken POLH gene 5′-flanking region that contains a typical CpG island and acetylates Lys-9 of histone H3, but not Lys-14 in vivo. These data suggest that GCN5 takes part in transcription regulation of POLH gene through alterations in the chromatin structure by direct interaction with its 5′-flanking region, and protects vertebrate cells against UV-induced DNA damage via controlling POLH gene expression. © 2012 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.