1. Mol Cell Biol. 2009 Dec;29(23):6206-19. Epub 2009 Oct 5.
Human SNF5/INI1, a component of the human SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex,
promotes nucleotide excision repair by influencing ATM recruitment and downstream
H2AX phosphorylation.
Ray A, Mir SN, Wani G, Zhao Q, Battu A, Zhu Q, Wang QE, Wani AA.
Department of Radiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Recent studies have implicated the role of the SWI/SNF ATP-dependent chromatin
remodeling complex in nuclear excision repair (NER), but the mechanism of its
function has remained elusive. Here, we show that the human SWI/SNF component
human SNF5 (hSNF5) interacts with UV damage recognition factor XPC and
colocalizes with XPC at the damage site. Inactivation of hSNF5 did not affect the
recruitment of XPC but affected the recruitment of ATM checkpoint kinase to the
damage site and ATM activation by phosphorylation. Consequently, hSNF5 deficiency
resulted in a defect in H2AX and BRCA1 phosphorylation at the damage site.
However, recruitment of ATR checkpoint kinase to the damage site was not affected
by hSNF5 deficiency, supporting that hSNF5 functions downstream of ATR.
Additionally, ATM/ATR-mediated Chk2/Chk1 phosphorylation was not affected in
hSNF5-depleted cells in response to UV irradiation, suggesting that the cell
cycle checkpoint is intact in these cells. Taken together, the results indicate
that the SWI/SNF complex associates with XPC at the damage site and thereby
facilitates the access of ATM, which in turn promotes H2AX and BRCA1
phosphorylation. We propose that the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling function is
utilized to increase the DNA accessibility of NER machinery and checkpoint
factors at the damage site, which influences NER and ensures genomic integrity.
PMCID: PMC2786693
PMID: 19805520 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]