Abstract A46: Nup153 and Nup50 promote recruitment of 53BP1 to DNA repair foci by antagonizing BRCA1-dependent events
Authors: Mackay Douglas R. , Ullman Katharine S. 
Published: April 2017

This study focuses on an unexpected role for particular nuclear pore proteins in the antagonism between the DNA repair factors BRCA1 and 53BP1, and the impact this has on the response to poly(A) ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibition. Repair of DNA double strand breaks, a cornerstone of genomic integrity, typically follows one of two distinct pathways: the high fidelity process of homologous recombination (HR) repair, in which BRCA1 plays a key role, and the more error-prone process of non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), which relies on 53BP1. The balance between NHEJ and HR depends, in part, on whether 53BP1 predominates in binding to damage sites, where it protects the DNA ends from resection and prevents HR from occurring. Conversely, BRCA1 binding counteracts 53BP1-mediated events to promote HR repair. While mutual antagonism between BRCA1 and 53BP1 has been appreciated for some time, factors that modulate this relationship are only beginning to be elucidated. The nuclear pore component Nup153 has previously been implicated in the DNA damage response, specifically in promoting nuclear import of 53BP1. To further explore the role of Nup153 in this context, we engineered an additional strong nuclear localization sequence (NLS) on 53BP1 and found that this overrides the requirement for Nup153 in nuclear import of 53BP1. While 53BP1-NLS is recruited normally to DNA damage foci in control-treated cells, its accumulation at these sites is still severely impaired in Nup153-depleted cells, indicating that Nup153 has an additional and distinct role in 53BP1 intranuclear targeting. These observations are further underscored by the additional finding that a second nuclear pore protein, Nup50, is also required for intranuclear targeting of 53BP1, yet makes no discernable contribution to 53BP1 nuclear import. Of note, depletion of a third nucleoporin (Tpr), which is part of the same structural element of the nuclear pore, did not alter this DNA damage response pathway. To gain insight into the pathway affected by Nup153 and Nup50 and to understand how their role fits into a clinically relevant context, we probed the consequences of reducing Nup153 and Nup50 levels in cells deficient in BRCA1 activity. We found that the requirement for Nup153 and Nup50 in promoting 53BP1 recruitment to damage foci is abrogated under these circumstances. In cells where HR repair is otherwise defective, however, robust recruitment of 53BP1 to DNA damage foci requires Nup153 and Nup50. Together, our results provide novel insight into 53BP1 regulation during the DNA damage response and are consistent with a model where Nup153 and Nup50 normally promote 53BP1 targeting by counteracting BRCA1-dependent events. These findings have important implications with regard to PARP inhibition, a therapeutic strategy thought to capitalize on defective HR repair by forcing inappropriate use of NHEJ, culminating in cellular toxicity. Accordingly, we found that decreased levels of Nup153 and Nup50 do not affect the 53BP1-dependent pathway in BRCA1-deficient cells exposed to PARP inhibitor treatment, but still impair this response in cells deficient for BRCA2 or when the ATM and ATR signaling pathways are inhibited. Our results indicate that Nup153 and Nup50, as factors that modulate 53BP1 activity, belong to a novel category of biomarkers that could be screened to make better predictions of response to PARP inhibitor treatment.

Citation Format: Douglas R. Mackay, Katharine S. Ullman. Nup153 and Nup50 promote recruitment of 53BP1 to DNA repair foci by antagonizing BRCA1-dependent events [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on DNA Repair: Tumor Development and Therapeutic Response; 2016 Nov 2-5; Montreal, QC, Canada. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2017;15(4_Suppl):Abstract nr A46.