Physical and Functional Interaction between DNA Ligase IIIα and Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase 1 in DNA Single-Strand Break Repair

Abstract

The repair of DNA single-strand breaks in mammalian cells is mediated by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1), DNA ligase IIIα, and XRCC1. Since these proteins are not found in lower eukaryotes, this DNA repair pathway plays a unique role in maintaining genome stability in more complex organisms. XRCC1 not only forms a stable complex with DNA ligase IIIα but also interacts with several other DNA repair factors. Here we have used affinity chromatography to identify proteins that associate with DNA ligase III. PARP-1 binds directly to an N-terminal region of DNA ligase III immediately adjacent to its zinc finger. In further studies, we have shown that DNA ligase III also binds directly to poly(ADP-ribose) and preferentially associates with poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated PARP-1 in vitro and in vivo. Our biochemical studies have revealed that the zinc finger of DNA ligase III increases DNA joining in the presence of either poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated PARP-1 or poly(ADP-ribose). This provides a mechanism for the recruitment of the DNA ligase IIIα-XRCC1 complex to in vivo DNA single-strand breaks and suggests that the zinc finger of DNA ligase III enables this complex and associated repair factors to locate the strand break in the presence of the negatively charged poly(ADP-ribose) polymer.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Gilbert de Murcia for reagents and insightful comments on the manuscript and Guikai Wu for the mass spectrometry analysis.

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant GM47251 (to A.E.T.) and the Cancer Center support grant CA54174 to the San Antonio Cancer Institute.