Sign up for Table of Contents Alerts.
Email this page
Print this page
Report
Checkpoint Regulation of Replication Dynamics in UV-Irradiated Human Cells
Paul D. Chastain II, Timothy P. Heffernan, Kathleen R. Nevis, Li Lin, William K. Kaufmann, David G. Kaufman and Marila Cordeiro-Stone
volume 5 | issue 18
15 september 2006Pages: 2160 - 2167
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.
At any moment during S phase, regions of genomic DNA are in various stages of replication (i.e. initiation, chain elongation, and termination). These stages may be differentially inhibited after treatment with various carcinogens that damage DNA such as UV. We used visualization of active replication units in combed DNA fibers, in combination with quantitative analyses of the size distributions of nascent DNA, to evaluate the role of S-checkpoint proteins in UV-induced inhibition of DNA replication. When HeLa cells were exposed to a low fluence (1 J/m2) of 254 nm UV light (UVC), new initiation events were severely inhibited (5-6-fold reduction). A larger fluence of UVC (10 J/m2) resulted in stronger inhibition of the overall rate of DNA synthesis without decreasing further the frequency of replicon initiation events. Incubation of HeLa cells with caffeine and knockdown of ATR or Chk1 kinases reversed the UVC-induced inhibition of initiation of new replicons. These findings illustrate the concordance of data derived from different experimental approaches, thus strengthening the evidence that the activation of the intra-S checkpoint by UVC is dependent on the ATR and Chk1 kinases.
Authors
Paul D. Chastain II
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC
Timothy P. Heffernan
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Kathleen R. Nevis
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Li Lin
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
William K. Kaufmann
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
David G. Kaufman
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC
Marila Cordeiro-Stone
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.