Inhibitors of the proteasome suppress homologous DNA recombination in mammalian cells.
Proteasome inhibitors are novel antitumor agents against multiple myeloma and other malignancies. Despite the increasing clinical application, the molecular basis of their antitumor effect has been poorly understood due to the involvement of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in multiple cellular metabolisms. Here, we show that treatment of cells with proteasome inhibitors has no significant effect on nonhomologous end joining but suppresses homologous recombination (HR), which plays a key role in DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair. In this study, we treat human cells with proteasome inhibitors and show that the inhibition of the proteasome reduces the efficiency of HR-dependent repair of an artificial HR substrate. We further show that inhibition of the proteasome interferes with the activation of Rad51, a key factor for HR, although it does not affect the activation of ATM, gammaH2AX, or Mre11. These data show that the proteasome-mediated destruction is required for the promotion of HR at an early step. We suggest that the defect in HR-mediated DNA repair caused by proteasome inhibitors contributes to antitumor effect, as HR plays an essential role in cellular proliferation. Moreover, because HR plays key roles in the repair of DSBs caused by chemotherapeutic agents such as cisplatin and by radiotherapy, proteasome inhibitors may enhance the efficacy of these treatments through the suppression of HR-mediated DNA repair pathways.
Murakawa
Yasuhiro
Y
Department of Radiation Genetics, Horizontal Medical Research Organization, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Sonoda
Eiichiro
E
Barber
Louise J
LJ
Zeng
Weihua
W
Yokomori
Kyoko
K
Kimura
Hiroshi
H
Niimi
Atsuko
A
Lehmann
Alan
A
Zhao
Guang Yu
GY
Hochegger
Helfrid
H
Boulton
Simon J
SJ
Takeda
Shunichi
S
D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; D019313:BRCA1 Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D024682:BRCA2 Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D053903:DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000187:drug effects*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology; D019398:Genes, BRCA1; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007976:Leupeptins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D061988:Proteasome Inhibitors; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase / Q000378:metabolism; D011995:Recombination, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects*; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019313:BRCA1 Protein; D024682:BRCA2 Protein; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D015853:Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007976:Leupeptins; D061988:Proteasome Inhibitors; C484606:SEM1 protein, human; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C576324:ATM protein, human; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; C576325:Atm protein, mouse; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; C072553:benzyloxycarbonylleucyl-leucyl-leucine aldehyde