Department of Biotechnology
inStem (Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine)

Functional analysis of germline RAD51C missense variants highlight the role of RAD51C in replication fork protection.

Publication Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

April 6, 2023

Journal

Human molecular genetics

Volume/Issue

32/8

ISSN

1460-2083

Monoallelic or biallelic RAD51C germline mutations results in chromosome instability disorders such as Fanconi anemia and cancers. The bona fide function of RAD51C is to assist RAD51 nucleoprotein filament onto single-strand DNA to complete homologous recombination (HR) repair. In addition to HR repair, the role of RAD51C in DNA replication is emerging when replication forks are transiently or irreversibly stalled. We identified novel RAD51C variants of uncertain significance (VUS) from breast, ovarian, pancreatic and gastric cancer patients and functionally characterized the effect of these variants in replication fork protection and double-strand breaks (DSB’s) repair. In RAD51C-deficient Chinese hamster CL-V4B cells, expression of RAD51C F164S, A87E, L134S and E49K variants heightened sensitivity to mitomycin C (MMC), etoposide and PARP inhibition. Differently, expression of subset of RAD51C variants R24L, R24W and R212H displayed mild sensitivity to MMC, etoposide and PARP inhibition. Further functional characterization of a subset of variants revealed that Rad51C F164S, A87E, L134S and E49K variants displayed reduced RAD51 foci formation and increased overall nuclear single strand DNA levels in the presence of replication stress. Additionally, DNA fiber assay revealed that RAD51C F164S, A87E, L134S and E49K variants displayed defective replication fork protection upon prolonged fork stalling. Investigations using patient-derived lymphoblastoid cell line carrying heterozygous RAD51C L134S variant showed an impairment in RAD51 chromatin association and replication fork protection, suggestive of deleteriousness of this VUS variant. Overall, our findings provide more insights into molecular roles of RAD51C in replication fork integrity maintenance and in DSB repair.

Alternate Journal

Hum Mol Genet

PubMed ID

36562461

Authors

Arun Mouli Kolinjivadi
Siao Ting Chong
Ramveer Choudhary
Haresh Sankar
Ee Ling Chew
Claresta Yeo
Sock Hoai Chan
Joanne Ngeow

Keywords

Germ-Line Mutation
Etoposide
Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors
Rad51 Recombinase
DNA Replication
DNA Repair
Animals
DNA
DNA-Binding Proteins
Humans
Cricetinae