Interaction between PCNA and DNA ligase I is critical for joining of Okazaki fragments and long-patch base-excision repair.

DNA ligase I belongs to a family of proteins that bind to proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) via a conserved 8-amino-acid motif [1]. Here we examine the biological significance of this interaction. Inactivation of the PCNA-binding site of DNA ligase I had no effect on its catalytic activity or its interaction with DNA polymerase beta. In contrast, the loss of PCNA binding severely compromised the ability of DNA ligase I to join Okazaki fragments. Thus, the interaction between PCNA and DNA ligase I is not only critical for the subnuclear targeting of the ligase, but also for coordination of the molecular transactions that occur during lagging-strand synthesis. A functional PCNA-binding site was also required for the ligase to complement hypersensitivity of the DNA ligase I mutant cell line 46BR.1G1 to monofunctional alkylating agents, indicating that a cytotoxic lesion is repaired by a PCNA-dependent DNA repair pathway. Extracts from 46BR.1G1 cells were defective in long-patch, but not short-patch, base-excision repair (BER). Our results show that the interaction between PCNA and DNA ligase I has a key role in long-patch BER and provide the first evidence for the biological significance of this repair mechanism.