Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rev7 regulates DSB repair pathway choice through binding and blocking Mre11 nuclease and Rad50 ATPase activities

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that, in human cancer cells, the tetrameric Shieldin complex (comprising REV7, SHLD1, SHLD2, and SHLD3) facilitates non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) while blocking homologous recombination (HR). Surprisingly, several eukaryotic species lack SHLD1, SHLD2 and SHLD3 orthologs, suggesting that Rev7 may leverage an alternative mechanism to regulate the double-strand break (DSB) repair pathway choice. Exploring this hypothesis, we discovered that Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rev7 physically interacts with the Mre11-Rad50-Xrs2 (MRX) subunits, impedes G-quadruplex DNA synergised-HU-induced toxicity and facilitates NHEJ, while antagonizing HR. Notably, we reveal that a 42-amino acid C-terminal fragment of Rev7 binds to the subunits of MRX complex, protects rev7{Delta} cells from G-quadruplex DNA-HU-induced toxicity, and promotes NHEJ by blocking HR. By comparison, the N-terminal HORMA domain, a conserved protein-protein interaction module, was dispensable. We further show that the full-length Rev7 impedes Mre11 nuclease and Rad50s ATPase activities without affecting the latters ATP-binding ability. Combined, these results provide unanticipated insights into the functional interaction between the MRX subunits and Rev7 and highlight a mechanism by which Rev7 facilitates DSB repair via NHEJ, and attenuation of HR, by blocking Mre11 nuclease and Rad50s ATPase activities in S. cerevisiae. IMPACT STATEMENTThe mechanisms steering DNA double-strand break repair pathway choice is a topic of intense investigation, but remains incompletely understood. Our findings suggest that yeast Rev7 promotes DSB repair via NHEJ and inhibits homologous recombination by blocking Mre11 nuclease and Rad50s ATPase activities.