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Effect of ATM heterozygosity on heritable DNA damage in mice following paternal F0 germline irradiation.

The ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene product maintains genome integrity and initiates cellular DNA repair pathways following exposures to genotoxic agents. ATM also plays a significant role in meiotic recombination during spermatogenesis. Fertilization with sperm carrying damaged DNA could lead to adverse effects in offspring including developmental defects or increased cancer susceptibility. Currently, there is little information regarding the effect of ATM heterozygosity on germline DNA repair and heritable effects of paternal germline-ionizing irradiation. We used neutral pH comet assays to evaluate spermatozoa 45 days after acute whole-body irradiation of male mice (0.1Gy, attenuated (137)Cs gamma rays) to determine the effect of ATM heterozygosity on delayed DNA damage effects of Type A/B spermatogonial irradiation. Using the neutral pH sperm comet assay, significant irradiation-related differences were found in comet tail length, percent tail DNA and tail extent moment, but there were no observed differences in effect between wild-type and ATM +/- mice. However, evaluation of spermatozoa from third generation descendants of irradiated male mice for heritable chromatin effects revealed significant differences in DNA electrophoretic mobility in the F(3) descendants that were based upon the irradiated F(0) sire's genotype. In this study, radiation-induced chromatin alterations to Type A/B spermatogonia, detected in mature sperm 45 days post-irradiation, led to chromatin effects in mature sperm three generations later. The early cellular response to and repair of DNA damage is critical and appears to be affected by ATM zygosity. Our results indicate that there is potential for heritable genetic or epigenetic changes following Type A/B spermatogonial irradiation and that ATM heterozygosity increases this effect.

Animals↗

Breast cancer in female carriers of ATM gene alterations: outcome of adjuvant radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We analyzed the clinical outcome of breast cancer patients carrying sequence variants in the ATM gene who received postoperative radiotherapy after breast conservative surgery to test whether an increased cellular radiosensitivity may translate into enhanced tumor cell killing and thereby result in an improvement of the therapeutic ratio. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We investigated a cohort of 138 breast cancer patients who received adjuvant radiotherapy following breast conservative surgery for T1 and T2 tumors. Genomic DNA samples of these patients had previously been scanned for mutations in the ATM gene. Follow-up data were available in 135 patients, with a median follow-up of 87 months. Local relapse-free, metastasis-free and overall survival were compared between carriers and non-carriers of a sequence variant in the ATM gene. RESULTS: Twenty patients were found to carry a sequence variant in the ATM gene (truncating, 7; missense, 13). The actuarial 7-year local relapse-free survival of carriers vs. non-carriers were 88 vs. 94% (P=0.34). Actuarial metastasis-free and overall survival after 7 years were 63 vs. 85% (P=0.01) and 73 vs. 89% (P=0.055), respectively. However, the presence of a variant in the ATM gene did not remain a significant discriminator for metastasis-free survival in a multivariate Cox regression analysis (P=0.068). CONCLUSIONS: Our results do not support the hypothesis that breast cancer patients carrying a sequence variant in the ATM gene differentially benefit from postoperative radiotherapy. These findings have to be verified using larger number of cases to clarify the clinical consequences of sequence variants in the ATM gene.

Adult↗

Atm and c-Abl cooperate in the response to genotoxic stress during nervous system development.

The c-Abl proto-oncogene is a target of the ATM kinase after DNA double strand breaks, although the physiological significance of these signaling events is not clear. Therefore, to delineate the roles of c-Abl and Atm during mouse development we generated mice with combinations of c-Abl and Atm mutant alleles. We found that dual inactivation of Atm and c-Abl usually resulted in midgestational lethality. However, mice with three mutant alleles, c-Abl(-/-)Atm(+/-) or c-Abl(+/-)Atm(-/-), were viable but predisposed to neuro-developmental abnormalities after genotoxic insult. Thus, these genetic data link Atm and c-Abl signaling and underscore a significant interrelationship between the two during neural development.

Alleles↗

The ATM gene and breast cancer: is it really a risk factor?

The genetic determinants for most breast cancer cases remain elusive. Whilst mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 significantly contribute to familial breast cancer risk, their contribution to sporadic breast cancer is low. In such cases genes frequently altered in the general population, such as the gene mutated in Ataxia telangiectasia (AT), ATM may be important risk factors. The initial interest in studying ATM heterozygosity in breast cancer arose from the findings of epidemiological studies of AT families in which AT heterozygote women had an increased risk of breast cancer and estimations that 1% of the population are AT heterozygotes. One of the clinical features of AT patients is extreme cellular sensitivity to ionising radiation. This observation, together with the finding that a significant proportion of breast cancer patients show an exaggerated acute or late normal tissue reactions after radiotherapy, has lead to the suggestion that AT heterozygosity plays a role in radiosensitivity and breast cancer development. Loss of heterozygosity in the region of the ATM gene on chromosome 11, has been found in about 40% of sporadic breast tumours. However, screening for ATM mutations in sporadic breast cancer cases, showing or not adverse effects to radiotherapy, has not revealed the magnitude of involvement of the ATM gene expected. Their size and the use of the protein truncation test to identify mutations limit many of these studies. This latter parameter is critical as the profile of mutations in AT patients may not be representative of the ATM mutations in other diseases. The potential role of rare sequence variants within the ATM gene, sometimes reported as polymorphisms, also needs to be fully assessed in larger cohorts of breast cancer patients and controls in order to determine whether they represent cancer and/or radiation sensitivity predisposing mutations.

Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins↗

ATM and genome maintenance: defining its role in breast cancer susceptibility.

The ATM gene is mutated in ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T), a genetic instability syndrome characterized by increased cancer risk, as well as other features. Recent studies have shown that the ATM protein kinase plays a critical role in maintaining genome integrity by activating a biochemical chain reaction that in turn leads to cell cycle checkpoint activation and repair of DNA damage. ATM targets include well-known tumor suppressor genes such as p53 and BRCA1, both of which play an important role in predisposition to breast cancer. Studies of A-T families have consistently reported an increased risk of breast cancer in women with one mutated ATM gene, but so far an increased frequency of ATM mutations has not been found in women with breast cancer. Some specific missense and protein truncating variants of ATM have been reported to confer increased breast cancer risk, but the magnitude of this risk remains uncertain. A more comprehensive analysis of ATM is needed in large case-control studies, and in multiple-case breast cancer families.

Ataxia Telangiectasia↗

Participation of ATM in insulin signalling through phosphorylation of eIF-4E-binding protein 1.

One of the critical responses to insulin treatment is the stimulation of protein synthesis through induced phosphorylation of the eIF-4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1), and the subsequent release of the translation initiation factor, eIF-4E. Here we report that ATM, the protein product of the ATM gene that is mutated in the disease ataxia telangiectasia, phosphorylates 4E-BP1 at Ser 111 in vitro and that insulin treatment induces phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 at Ser 111 in vivo in an ATM-dependent manner. In addition, insulin treatment of cells enhances the specific kinase activity of ATM. Cells lacking ATM kinase activity exhibit a significant decrease in the insulin-induced dissociation of 4E-BP1 from eIF-4E. These results suggest an unexpected role for ATM in an insulin-signalling pathway that controls translation initiation. Through this mechanism, a lack of ATM activity probably contributes to some of the metabolic abnormalities, such as poor growth and insulin resistance, reported in ataxia telangiectasia cells and patients with ataxia telangiectasia.

3T3 Cells↗

ATM-dependent phosphorylation of nibrin in response to radiation exposure.

Mutations in the gene ATM are responsible for the genetic disorder ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T), which is characterized by cerebellar dysfunction, radiosensitivity, chromosomal instability and cancer predisposition. Both the A-T phenotype and the similarity of the ATM protein to other DNA-damage sensors suggests a role for ATM in biochemical pathways involved in the recognition, signalling and repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). There are strong parallels between the pattern of radiosensitivity, chromosomal instability and cancer predisposition in A-T patients and that in patients with Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS). The protein defective in NBS, nibrin (encoded by NBS1), forms a complex with MRE11 and RAD50 (refs 1,2). This complex localizes to DSBs within 30 minutes after cellular exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) and is observed in brightly staining nuclear foci after a longer period of time. The overlap between clinical and cellular phenotypes in A-T and NBS suggests that ATM and nibrin may function in the same biochemical pathway. Here we demonstrate that nibrin is phosphorylated within one hour of treatment of cells with IR. This response is abrogated in A-T cells that either do not express ATM protein or express near full-length mutant protein. We also show that ATM physically interacts with and phosphorylates nibrin on serine 343 both in vivo and in vitro. Phosphorylation of this site appears to be functionally important because mutated nibrin (S343A) does not completely complement radiosensitivity in NBS cells. ATM phosphorylation of nibrin does not affect nibrin-MRE11-RAD50 association as revealed by radiation-induced foci formation. Our data provide a biochemical explanation for the similarity in phenotype between A-T and NBS.

Ataxia Telangiectasia↗

Partial rescue of the prophase I defects of Atm-deficient mice by p53 and p21 null alleles.

Patients with the human disorder ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T; refs 1,2) and Atm-deficient mice have a pleiotropic phenotype that includes infertility. Here we demonstrate that male gametogenesis is severely disrupted in Atm-deficient mice in the earliest stages of meiotic prophase I, resulting in apoptotic degeneration. Atm is required for proper assembly of Rad51 onto the chromosomal axial elements during meiosis. In addition, p53, p21 and Bax are elevated in testes from Atm-deficient mice. To determine whether these elevated protein levels are important factors in the meiotic disruption of Atm-deficient mice, we analysed the meiotic phenotype of Atm/p53 or Atm/p21 double mutants. In these double mutants, meiosis progressed to later stages but was only partly rescued. Assembly of Rad51 foci on axial elements remained defective, and gametogenesis proceeded only to pachytene of prophase I. Previous results demonstrated that mice homozygous for a null mutation in Rad51 (ref. 6) display an early embryonic lethal phenotype that can be partly rescued by removing p53 and/or p21. Because Atm-deficient mice are viable but completely infertile, our studies suggest that the Rad51 assembly defects and elevated levels of p53, p21 and Bax represent tissue-specific responses to the absence of Atm.

Animals↗

Two-step activation of ATM by DNA and the Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 complex.

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) trigger activation of the ATM protein kinase, which coordinates cell-cycle arrest, DNA repair and apoptosis. We propose that ATM activation by DSBs occurs in two steps. First, dimeric ATM is recruited to damaged DNA and dissociates into monomers. The Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 complex (MRN) facilitates this process by tethering DNA, thereby increasing the local concentration of damaged DNA. Notably, increasing the concentration of damaged DNA bypasses the requirement for MRN, and ATM monomers generated in the absence of MRN are not phosphorylated on Ser1981. Second, the ATM-binding domain of Nbs1 is required and sufficient to convert unphosphorylated ATM monomers into enzymatically active monomers in the absence of DNA. This model clarifies the mechanism of ATM activation in normal cells and explains the phenotype of cells from patients with ataxia telangiectasia-like disorder and Nijmegen breakage syndrome.

Animals↗

Adenovirus-mediated antisense ATM gene transfer sensitizes prostate cancer cells to radiation.

Treatment failure after radiation therapy of prostate cancer (PC) could be a significant problem. Our objective is to design genetic radiosensitizing strategies for the treatment of PC. Cells from individuals with the genetic disorder ataxia telangiectasia (AT) are hypersensitive to ionizing radiation. Therefore, we examined whether attenuation of the AT gene product, AT mutated (ATM), in PC cells could result in an increased intrinsic radiosensitivity. A p53-mutant PC cell line, PC-3 was infected with adenoviral vectors, expressing antisense ATM RNA to various domains of the ATM gene. Immunoblot analyses of cellular extracts from antisense ATM-transfected PC-3 cells showed attenuated expression of the ATM protein within 2 days of viral infection. Compared with cells infected with an adeno-beta-galactosidase vector, antisense ATM-transfected PC-3 cells showed aberrant control of S-phase cell-cycle checkpoints after exposure to ionizing radiation. Under these conditions, the intrinsic radiosensitivity of the PC-3 cells was enhanced. Consequently antisense ATM gene therapy could serve as a paradigm for strategies that target the cellular survival mechanisms of an irradiated tumor cell and may provide therapeutic benefit to patients undergoing radiation therapy for PC.

Adenoviridae↗

ATM and ATR promote Mre11 dependent restart of collapsed replication forks and prevent accumulation of DNA breaks.

Ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM), ataxia-telangiectasia Rad3-related (ATR) and the Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 complex ensure genome stability in response to DNA damage. However, their essential role in DNA metabolism remains unknown. Here we show that ATM and ATR prevent accumulation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) during chromosomal replication. Replicating chromosomes accumulate DSBs in Xenopus laevis egg extracts depleted of ATM and ATR. Addition of ATM and ATR proteins to depleted extracts prevents DSB accumulation by promoting restart of collapsed replication forks that arise during DNA replication. We show that collapsed forks maintain MCM complex but lose Pol epsilon, and that Pol epsilon reloading requires ATM and ATR. Replication fork restart is abolished in Mre11 depleted extracts and is restored by supplementation with recombinant human Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 complex. Using a novel fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based technique, we demonstrate that ATM and ATR induce Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 complex redistribution to restarting forks. This study provides direct biochemical evidence that ATM and ATR prevent accumulation of chromosomal abnormalities by promoting Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 dependent recovery of collapsed replication forks.

Animals↗

HSV-1 amplicon vector-mediated expression of ATM cDNA and correction of the ataxia-telangiectasia cellular phenotype.

Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by neurodegeneration, immunodeficiency, cancer predisposition, genome instability, and radiation sensitivity. Previous research has shown that it is possible to correct the hereditary deficiency A-T by DNA transfection in cell culture, but the large size of the ATM cDNA (9 kb) limits the use of many vector types for gene replacement. HSV-1 amplicon vectors provide a means to deliver large genes to cells efficiently and without toxicity. In this study, the FLAG-tagged cDNA for human ATM was inserted into an HSV-1 amplicon under control of the CMV promoter (designated as HGC-ATM). FLAG-ATM expression was confirmed in 293T/17 cells and human A-T fibroblasts (GM9607) after transduction, by immunoprecipitation, Western analysis, and immunocytochemistry. Functional recovery was assessed by two independent assays. First, in vitro kinase assay showed that vector-derived ATM in GM9607 cells could successfully phosphorylate wt p53 using recombinant GST-p53(1-101). Second, in A-T cells infected with the HGC-ATM vector, the extent of accumulation in G2/M phase at 24 h postirradiation was similar to that observed in cells with wild-type endogenous ATM and lower than that observed in A-T cells infected with a control vector. Thus, these vectors provide a tool to test the feasibility of HSV-amplicons as gene therapy vectors for A-T.

Ataxia Telangiectasia↗

Relation between genetic variants of the ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) gene, drug resistance, clinical outcome and predisposition to childhood T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

The T-lineage phenotype in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is associated with in vitro drug resistance and a higher relapse-risk compared to a precursor B phenotype. Our study was aimed to investigate whether mutations in the ATM gene occur in childhood T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) that are linked to drug resistance and clinical outcome. In all, 20 different single nucleotide substitutions were found in 16 exons of ATM in 62/103 (60%) T-ALL children and 51/99 (52%, P = 0.21) controls. Besides the well-known polymorphism D1853N, five other alterations (S707P, F858L, P1054R, L1472W, Y1475C) in the coding part of ATM were found. These five coding alterations seem to occur more frequently in T-ALL (13%) than controls (5%, P = 0.06), but did not associate with altered expression levels of ATM or in vitro resistance to daunorubicin. However, T-ALL patients carrying these five coding alterations presented with a higher white blood cell count at diagnosis (P = 0.05) and show an increased relapse-risk (5-year probability of disease-free survival (pDFS) = 48%) compared to patients with other alterations or wild-type ATM (5-year pDFS = 76%, P = 0.05). The association between five coding ATM alterations in T-ALL, their germline presence, white blood cell count and unfavourable outcome may point to a role for ATM in the development of T-ALL in these children.

Adolescent↗

Recombinant ATM protein complements the cellular A-T phenotype.

Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by neurodegeneration, immunodeficiency, cancer predisposition, genome instability and radiation sensitivity. The cellular phenotype of A-T points to defects in signal transduction pathways involved in activation of cell cycle checkpoints by free radical damage, and other pathways that mediate the transmission of specific mitogenic stimuli. The product of the responsible gene, ATM, belongs to a family of large proteins that contribute to maintaining genome stability and cell cycle progression in various organisms. A recombinant vector that stably expresses a full-length ATM protein is a valuable tool for its functional analysis. We constructed and cloned a recombinant, full-length open reading frame of ATM using a combination of vectors and hosts that overcame an inherent instability of this sequence. Recombinant ATM was stably expressed in insect cells using a baculovirus vector, albeit at a low level, and in human A-T cells using an episomal expression vector. An amino-terminal FLAG epitope added to the protein allowed highly specific detection of the recombinant molecule by immunoblotting, immunoprecipitation and immunostaining, and its isolation using immunoaffinity. Similar to endogenous ATM, the recombinant protein is located mainly in the nucleus, with low levels in the cytoplasm. Ectopic expression of ATM in A-T cells restored normal sensitivity to ionizing radiation and the radiomimetic drug neocarzinostatin, and a normal pattern of post-irradiation DNA synthesis, which represents an S-phase checkpoint. These observations indicate that the recombinant, epitope-tagged protein is functional. Introduction into this molecule of a known A-T missense mutation, Glu2904Gly, resulted in apparent instability of the protein and inability to complement the A-T phenotype. These findings indicate that the physiological defects characteristic of A-T cells result from the absence of the ATM protein, and that this deficiency can be corrected by ectopic expression of this protein.

Animals↗

An anti-sense construct of full-length ATM cDNA imposes a radiosensitive phenotype on normal cells.

The cloning of a full-length cDNA for the gene (ATM) mutated in the human genetic disorder ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) has been described recently. This cDNA, as well as a fragment representing a functional region from ATM, are capable of rescuing various aspects of the radiosensitive phenotype in A-T cells. We have subcloned full-length ATM cDNA in the opposite orientation in an EBV-based vector under the control of an inducible promoter to determine whether this anti-sense construct might sensitize control lymphoblastoid cells to ionizing radiation. The effectiveness of expression of this construct in control cells was monitored by loss of ATM protein which was evident over a period 6-12 h after induction. Under these conditions radiosensitivity was enhanced approximately threefold in control cells, approaching the degree of radiosensitivity observed in A-T cells. Expression of the anti-sense construct also increased the number of radiation-induced chromosomal breaks and led to the appearance of radioresistant DNA synthesis in these cells. Abrogation of the G1/S checkpoint was evident from the loss of the p53 response and that of its downstream effector, p21/WAF1, post-irradiation. The extent of accumulation of transfected cells in G2/M phase at 24 h post-irradiation was similar to that observed in A-T cells and the induction of stress-activated protein kinase by ionizing radiation was prevented by antisense ATM cDNA expression. These data demonstrate that full-length ATM anti-sense cDNA, by reducing the amount of ATM protein, is effective in imposing a series of known defects characteristic of the A-T phenotype. This inducible system provides an experimental model to further investigate mechanisms underlying radiosensitivity and cell cycle control.

Ataxia Telangiectasia↗

Ku affects the ATM-dependent S phase checkpoint following ionizing radiation.

Following exposure to genotoxic stress, proliferating cells actively slow down DNA replication through an S phase checkpoint to provide time for repair. The ATM-dependent pathway plays an important role in the S phase checkpoint response following ionizing irradiation. We report that there is a stronger S phase checkpoint response in irradiated Ku80(-/-) cells as compared with their wild-type counterparts, which has no relationship to DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity but correlates with a higher ATM activity and with more ATM bound to chromatin DNA in such cells. Wortmannin, a nonspecific inhibitor of ATM, not only reduces the higher activity of ATM kinase, but also abolishes the stronger S phase checkpoint response in Ku80(-/-) cells. Furthermore, a specific ATM antisense oligonucleotide abolishes the stronger S checkpoint response in Ku80(-/-) cells and renders these cells practically indistinguishable from Ku80(+/+) cells for this endpoint. These results in aggregate indicate that the stronger S checkpoint in irradiated Ku80(-/-) cells is due to the higher ATM kinase activity.

Androstadienes↗

Regulation of the IRF-1 tumour modifier during the response to genotoxic stress involves an ATM-dependent signalling pathway.

The mechanism by which genotoxic stress induces IRF-1 and the signalling components upstream of this anti-oncogenic transcription factor during the response to DNA damage are not known. We demonstrate that IRF-1 and the tumour suppressor protein p53 are coordinately up-regulated during the response to DNA damage in an ATM-dependent manner. Induction of IRF-1 protein by either ionizing radiation (IR) or etoposide occurs through a concerted mechanism involving increased IRF-1 expression/synthesis and an increase in the half-life of the IRF-1 protein. A striking defect in the induction of both IRF-1 mRNA and IRF-1 protein was observed in ATM deficient cells. Although ATM deficient cells failed to increase IRF-1 in response to genotoxic stress, the induction of IRF-1 in response to viral mimetics remained intact. Re-expression of the ATM kinase in AT cells restored the DNA damage inducibility of IRF-1, whilst the PI-3 kinase inhibitor wortmannin inhibited IRF-1 induction by DNA damage in ATM-positive cells. The data highlight a role for the ATM kinase in orchestrating the coordinated induction and transcriptional cooperation of IRF-1 and p53 to regulate p21 expression. Thus, IRF-1 is controlled by two distinct signalling pathways; a JAK/STAT-signalling pathway in viral infected cells and an ATM-signalling pathway in DNA damaged cells.

Androstadienes↗

ATM is a target for positive regulation by E2F-1.

The E2F-1 transcription factor is a critical downstream target of the tumor suppressor, RB. When activated, E2F-1 induces cell proliferation. In addition, deregulation of E2F-1 constitutes an oncogenic stress that can induce apoptosis. The protein kinase ATM is a pivotal mediator of the response to another type of stress, genotoxic stress. In response to ionizing radiation, ATM activates the tumor suppressor p53, a key player in the control of cell growth and viability. We show here that E2F-1 elevates ATM promoter activity and induces an increase in ATM mRNA and protein levels. This is accompanied by an E2F-induced increase in p53 phosphorylation. Expression of the E7 protein of HPV16, which dissociates RB/E2F complexes, also induces the elevation of ATM levels and p53 phosphorylation, implicating endogenous E2F in these phenomena. These data demonstrate that ATM is transcriptionally regulated by E2F-1 and suggest that ATM serves as a novel, ARF-independent functional link between the RB/E2F pathway and p53.

3T3 Cells↗