Cooperativity of Mus81.Mms4 with Rad54 in the resolution of recombination and replication intermediates.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mus81.Mms4 protein complex, a DNA structure-specific endonuclease, helps preserve genomic integrity by resolving pathological DNA structures that arise from damaged or aborted replication forks and may also play a role in the resolution of DNA intermediates arising through homologous recombination. Previous yeast two-hybrid studies have found an interaction of the Mus81 protein with Rad54, a Swi2/Snf2-like factor that serves multiple roles in homologous recombination processes. However, the functional significance of this novel interaction remains unknown. Here, using highly purified S. cerevisiae proteins, we show that Rad54 strongly stimulates the Mus81.Mms4 nuclease activity on a broad range of DNA substrates. This nuclease enhancement does not require ATP binding nor its hydrolysis by Rad54. We present evidence that Rad54 acts by targeting the Mus81.Mms4 complex to its DNA substrates. In addition, we demonstrate that the Rad54-mediated enhancement of the Mus81.Mms4 (Eme1) nuclease function is evolutionarily conserved. We propose that Mus81.Mms4 together with Rad54 efficiently process perturbed replication forks to promote recovery and may constitute an alternative mechanism to the resolution/dissolution of the recombination intermediates by Sgs1.Top3. These findings provide functional insights into the biological importance of the higher order complex of Mus81.Mms4 or its orthologue with Rad54.

Barriers arising from DNA structures or lesions caused by endogenous and exogenous genotoxic agents are frequently encountered during DNA replication. Because of this, the successful completion of DNA replication relies on its coordination with a variety of replication fork repair and restart mechanisms. Several such mechanisms have been described. Depending on the circumstance, a mechanism that employs end tail repriming, template switch, fork regression and recovery, or translesion DNA synthesis may be used (1–4). Alternatively, the perturbed fork can be cleaved, creating a DNA double-strand break that is repaired by the homologous recombination machinery in a manner that leads to fork restart (5, 6).

Mounting evidence has implicated the Mus81 protein in the processing of stalled DNA replication forks (7–9). The mus81 mutant exhibits hypersensitivity to methyl methanesulfonate, camptothecin (CPT),2 UV, and hydroxyurea (HU), reagents that in general cause replication fork stalling or collapse, and it also shows synthetic interactions with mutations in DNA replication proteins (6, 10). Mus81 inactivation results in elevated levels of genomic instability, elicits checkpoint activation, and also leads to checkpoint-dependent cell cycle arrest (11–13). Mus81 is a member of the XPF family of endonucleases that play crucial roles in various DNA repair processes, including nucleotide excision repair, DNA interstrand cross-link repair, and homology-directed repair (14). XPF and its homologs function in the context of a heterodimeric complex with a partner protein. Mms4 (Eme1 in fission yeast and human) is the partner protein for Mus81, and the Mus81·Mms4 complex shows a preference for branched DNA structures that are believed to arise during the processing of stalled or collapsed replication forks as well as during recombination (4, 6, 10).

In general, Mus81·Mms4 prefers to cleave substrates with three- and four-way junctions containing a 5′ end at the junction, which serves to direct the cleavage reaction (8, 15, 16). Mus81 in complex with Mms4 or Eme1 also cleaves nicked Holliday junctions (HJ), and to a much lesser degree, intact HJs as well (6, 10). Whether the HJ represents a physiological substrate for the Mus81·Mms4 (Eme1) complex remains unclear. It has been also suggested that the activity of the Mus81 complex on intact HJ may be enhanced by a cellular factor (17). Nevertheless, mus81/mms4/eme1 mutants show severe meiotic phenotypes, indicating an essential role of this complex in processing recombination intermediates during meiotic recombination (6, 10).

Several models have been postulated in regard to the role of homologous recombination in processing stalled, blocked, and collapsed replication forks as well as their restart (3, 5, 6, 10). Furthermore, Mus81 was suggested to be required for processing recombination intermediates that form downstream of collapsed replication forks (18). In these models recombinational processing or repair of the damaged or collapsed forks is initiated via the assembly of the Rad51 nucleoprotein filament on single-stranded DNA to mediate the invasion of the sister chromatid. The product of this DNA strand invasion reaction is a structure called a D-loop, and this step appears to be enhanced by the Swi2/Snf2-like factor Rad54 (19, 20). Interestingly, Mus81 was initially identified in a two-hybrid screen for Rad54 interaction partners (14). Here, using purified proteins, we show a direct association between Rad54 and Mus81 and present data to reveal a dramatic stimulation of the Mus81·Mms4 nuclease activity by Rad54. In addition, we demonstrate that the ATP binding and hydrolysis by Rad54 is not required for Mus81·Mms4 enhancement and that Rad54 acts by targeting the Mus81·Mms4 complex to its substrates. We discuss the biological significance of the physical and functional interactions between Rad54 and Mus81·Mms4 (Eme1).

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES

Purification of Rad54 Protein and Mutants—The expression and purification of Rad54 was carried out as described by Raschle et al. (21) with slight modifications. The cells (30 g) were resuspended in 200 ml of lysis buffer C (50 mm Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 10% sucrose, 10 mm EDTA, 1 mm dithiothreitol, 0.01% Nonidet P-40, protease inhibitors) containing 0.6 m KCl and lysed by sonication. All subsequent steps were performed at 4 °C. The lysate was clarified by centrifugation for 50 min at 100,000 × g and applied sequentially onto a 20-ml Q-Sepharose (Amersham Biosciences) column and a 20-ml SP-Sepharose (Amersham Biosciences) column. The SP-Sepharose column was developed with a 210-ml gradient of 150–1000 mm KCl in buffer K (20 mm K2HPO4, pH 7.5, 20% glycerol and 0.5 mm EDTA, 0.01% Nonidet P-40, and 1 mm β-mercaptoethanol). Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rad54 protein was eluted at 400 mm KCl, and the peak fractions were mixed with 1 ml of His-Select nickel affinity gel (Sigma) for 30 min. The beads were washed with buffer K containing 10 mm imidazole and 600 mm KCl and eluted with a step-gradient using 50, 150, and 270 mm imidazole in buffer K. The 50 and 150 mm imidazole fractions were concentrated in a Vivaspin concentrator (Sigma) and stored in small portions at -80 °C. The human Rad54 protein and S. cerevisiae rad54-K341A and rad54-K341R mutant proteins were expressed and purified according to published procedures (22, 23). The concentration of all these proteins was determined by densitometric scanning of SDS-polyacrylamide gels containing multiple loadings of purified proteins against known quantities of bovine serum albumin.

Purification of Mus81 and Mus81·Mms4—The Escherichia coli protein expression constructs were generous gifts from Steven Brill (Rutgers University). Protein expression and purification was based on a previously described procedure (18). E. coli cells (21 g of cell paste) were resuspended in 80 ml of cell lysis buffer C containing 150 mm KCl. After sonication, the crude lysate was clarified by centrifugation (100,000 × g, 90 min). The clarified lysate was applied sequentially onto Q-Sepharose (20 ml) and then SP-Sepharose (20 ml). Proteins were eluted from SP-Sepharose with a 200-ml gradient of 150–1000 mm KCl in buffer K. Mus81 or Mms4-Mus81 fractions were pooled and mixed with 1 ml of His-Select nickel affinity gel for 1 h at 4 °C. After extensive washing with buffer K containing 150 mm KCl and 10 mm imidazole, the bound proteins were eluted using 50, 150, and 300 mm imidazole in buffer K containing 150 mm KCl. The 150 and 300 mm imidazole fractions were pooled and loaded on a 1 ml hydroxyapatite column (Bio-Rad), and proteins were eluted with a 10-ml gradient from 0 to 500 mm KH2PO4 in buffer K. Peak fractions were pooled, loaded onto a 1-ml Mono S column (GE Healthcare), and eluted with a 10-ml gradient from 150 to 1000 mm KCl in buffer K. Pooled fractions were and stored in small portions at -80 °C.

Purification of Mus81·Eme1—The Mus81·Eme1 expression construct was a kind gift from Stephen West (Cancer Research UK), and protein complex was expressed as described (24). Lysate was prepared from 10 g of E. coli cell paste using sonication in 50 ml of buffer C containing 150 mm KCl. The cleared lysate was applied sequentially onto a 7-ml Q-Sepharose column and a 7-ml SP-Sepharose column. Proteins were eluted from the SP-Sepharose column with a 70-ml gradient from 150 to 800 mm KCl in buffer K. The peak fractions were pooled and mixed with 1 ml of His-Select nickel affinity gel for 2 h at 4 °C. The column was washed with 10 ml of buffer K containing 150 mm KCl and 10 mm imidazole, and the bound proteins were eluted using 50, 150, 300, and 500 mm imidazole in buffer K containing 150 mm KCl. The 150, 300, and 500 mm imidazole fractions were loaded onto a 1-ml hydroxyapatite column which was eluted with a 10-ml gradient from 0 to 500 mm KH2PO4 in buffer K. The peak fractions were concentrated and stored in 5-μl aliquots at -80 °C.

Expression and Purification of Fen1—The plasmid for expression of Fen1 in E. coli was a generous gift from Binghui Shen (City of Hope National Medical Center). Fen1 protein was expressed and purified by a method modified from that described for the human FEN-1 protein (25). Lysate was prepared from 6 g of E. coli cell paste using sonication in 30 ml of buffer C containing 150 mm KCl. The crude lysate was clarified by centrifugation (100,000 × g, 90 min). The clarified lysate was applied sequentially onto a 7-ml Q-Sepharose column and a 7-ml SP-Sepharose column. The SP-Sepharose column was developed with a 70-ml gradient from 0 to 800 mm KCl in buffer K. The peak fractions were pooled and mixed with 0.5 ml of His-Select nickel affinity gel. The beads were washed with 10 column volumes of buffer K containing 150 mm KCl and 5 mm imidazole. The bound proteins were eluted from the affinity beads using 50, 150, 300, and 500 mm imidazole in buffer K containing 150 mm KCl. The 150, 300, and 500 mm imidazole fractions were pooled and further fractionated in a 0.5-ml Mono S column with a 5-ml gradient of 220 to 700 mm KCl in buffer K. Fractions with purified Fen1 were pooled, concentrated in a Vivaspin concentrator, and then stored in 5-μl aliquots at -80 °C.

DNA Substrates—Oligonucleotides were purchased from VBC Biotech. The sequences of the oligonucleotides and the structures of DNA substrates made from these oligonucleotides are shown in Table 1. The asterisk in the substrates denotes end modification by a fluorescent dye (fluorescein or Cy3). The substrates were prepared by mixing an equimolar amount of the constituent oligonucleotides in the hybridization buffer (50 mm Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 100 mm NaCl, 10 mm MgCl2) heated at 90 °C for 3 min and cooled slowly to room temperature to allow DNA annealing. The substrates were purified by fractionation in a 1-ml Mono Q column (GE Healthcare) with a 20-ml gradient of 50–1000 mm NaCl in 10 mm Tris-HCl, pH 7.5. Peak fractions were filtered dialyzed into 50 mm Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, containing 5 mm MgCl2 and concentrated in a Vivaspin concentrator with a 5-kDa cutoff. The concentration of the DNA substrates was determined by absorbance measurement at 260 nm.

TABLE 1

DNA substrates used in this study The list includes oligonucleotides used in substrate construction. In each substrate schematic, the numbers denote the constituent oligonucleotides and are positioned at the 5′ end of these oligonucleotides. The asterisk denotes the position of the fluorescent dye (FITC or Cy3).

Affinity Pulldown Studies—S. cerevisiae Rad54-containing protein complexes were captured using S-protein-agarose (Novagen), specific for the S-tag on Rad54. Purified Rad54 (4 μg in Fig. 1 and 3 μg in Fig. 1) was incubated with Mus81 (4 μg), Mus81·Mms4 (3 μg), Rad51 (4 μg), or Fen1 (3 μg) in 30 μl of buffer T (20 mm Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 150 mm KCl, 1 mm dithiothreitol, 0.5 mm EDTA, and 0.01% Nonidet P-40) for 30 min at 4 °C. The reactions were mixed with 15 μl of S-Protein-agarose at 4 °C for 30 min and then treated with DNase I (2 units, New England Biolabs) for 10 min at 37 °C. After washing the beads twice with 150 μl of buffer T, the bound proteins were eluted with 30 μl of 5% SDS. The supernatant, wash, and SDS eluate, 10 μl each, were subject to SDS-PAGE analysis.

FIGURE 1.

Physical interaction of Rad54 with Mus81 and Mus81·Mms4. A, purified Rad54 (lane 1), Mus81 (lane 2), Mus81·Mms4 (lane 3), Mus81·Eme1 (lane 4), and Fen1 (lane 5) were resolved by SDS-PAGE and stained with Coomassie Blue. B, Mus81 (4 μg) was mixed with S-protein-agarose in the presence of dsDNA (lane 1–3) or with S-protein-agarose beads coated with Rad54 (4 μg) in the presence of ssDNA (lanes 4–6) or dsDNA (lanes 7–9). The beads were incubated with DNase I (2 units), washed, and treated with SDS to elute bound proteins. The supernatant that contained unbound proteins (S), the wash (W), and the SDS eluate (E) were analyzed by SDS-PAGE. As a positive control, Rad51 (4 μg) was mixed with S-protein-agarose beads coated with Rad54 (4 μg) in the absence of DNA (lanes 10–12) and then analyzed. C, Mus81·Mms4 (3 μg) was mixed with S-protein-agarose beads (lanes 1–3) or S-protein-agarose beads coated with Rad54 (3 μg; lanes 4–6) in the presence of dsDNA. As a negative control, Fen1 (3 μg) was mixed with S-protein-agarose beads coated with Rad54 (3 μg) in the presence of dsDNA (lanes 7–9) and then analyzed. BSA, bovine serum albumin.

Nuclease Assay—The nuclease assay with Mus81·Mms4 was performed essentially as described (18). Reaction mixtures containing the indicated amount of Mus81·Mms4 and 6 nm DNA substrate in 20 μl of buffer N (20 mm Tris, pH 8.0, 100 mm NaCl, 100 μg/ml bovine serum albumin, 0.2 mm dithiothreitol, 5% glycerol, and 10 mm MgCl2) were incubated at 37 °C for the indicated times. After deproteinization by incubation with 0.1% SDS and 500 μg/ml of proteinase K at 37 °C for 10 min, the reactions were mixed with ⅕ volume of loading buffer (60% glycerol, 10 mm Tris-HCl, pH 7.4, 60 mm EDTA, 0.10% Orange G) and resolved in a 10% polyacrylamide gel in TAE buffer (40 mm Tris-HCl, 20 mm sodium acetate, 2 mm EDTA, pH 7.5). The fluorescent DNA species were visualized and quantified in the PharosFX Plus imager with the QuantityOne software (Bio-Rad). The experiment addressing the effect of rad54-K341A and rad54-K341R mutants was done in the presence of 2 mm ATP and ATP-regenerating system (10 μg/ml creatine phosphokinase and 20 mm creatine phosphate). In the Mus81·Mms4 targeting assay (Fig. 7), preincubation of the indicated DNA substrate with Rad54 was for 5 min at 25 °C. The nuclease assay with Mus81·Eme1 or Fen1 was carried out as described (24, 25).

FIGURE 7.

Substrate targeting of Mus81·Mms4 by Rad54. The DNA substrate pairs (the HJ and the DNA fork (Fk) in A; the nicked Holliday junction (nHJ) and 3′ DNA flap (Fl) in C and D), 3 nm each, were incubated with Mus81·Mms4 (M/M; 0.25 nm) and Rad54 (R54; 2 nm) in the indicated orders at 37 °C for 20 min and then analyzed. The reaction mixtures that contained FITC-labeled HJ and Fk are shown in A, and the results with S.D. based on three independent experiments are presented in the histogram in B. The reactions that contained FITC-labeled nicked HJ and Cy3-labeled Fl are shown in C and D, and the results with S.D. based on three independent experiments are presented in the histogram in E.

DNA Mobility Shift Assay—Purified S. cerevisiae Rad54 (50 or 100 nm) was incubated with the indicated fluorescently labeled substrate (12 nm) at 37 °C in 10 μl of buffer D (40 mm Tris-HCl, pH 7.8, 50 mm KCl, 1 mm dithiothreitol, and 100 μg/ml bovine serum albumin) for 10 min. After the addition of gel loading buffer, the reaction mixtures were resolved in 10% native polyacrylamide gels in TAE buffer at 4 °C and analyzed as above.

Camptothecin Sensitivity Spot Assays—Cells were grown to mid- to late-log phase and diluted in water to A600 of ∼0.2. 10-Fold serial dilutions were made in water such that the most concentrated spot contained ∼105 cells, and the dilutions were spotted on synthetic complete plates (SC), SC + DMSO, or SC + 1 μg/ml CPT (from a stock of 2 mg/ml in DMSO). In all experiments, the SC + DMSO plate mirrored the SC alone plate and, therefore, are not shown. For HU, dilutions were spotted on yeast extract/peptone/dextrose (YPD) or YPD + 200 mm HU. Drugs were added to the agar medium just before pouring the plates.

Live Cell Fluorescent Microscopy—Cells for microscopic analysis were grown and processed as detailed previously (26) with the following changes; cells were harvested by brief centrifugation (3800 × g) and resuspended in approximately 10 times the cell pellet volume of growth media. Immobilization of cells was carried out by mixing equal volumes of cell suspension and 1.4% low-melt-agarose (Nu-Sieve 3:1, FMC) plus growth medium solution (held at 42 °C before mixing) on a glass slide. When applicable, cells were treated with γ-irradiation (40 Gy from a Gammacell-220 60Co source, Atomic Energy, Ottawa, Canada) or CPT (5 μg/ml) during mid-log phase growth and harvested for microscopy as above at the indicated times.

Images were acquired identically as in Lisby et al. (26) on the microscope apparatus described therein. For Mus81-yellow fluorescent protein detection, an exposure time of 3000 ms was used. Images were false-colored and overlaid in Openlab (Improvision, Lexington, MA), then transferred to Adobe Photoshop for scaling.

RESULTS

Association of Rad54 with Mus81 and Mus81·Mms4 Complex Occurs on dsDNA—Results from a yeast two-hybrid screen for Rad54 partner proteins have identified a fragment of Mus81 protein as capable of Rad54 interaction (14). We used purified proteins (Fig. 1) to ascertain Rad54·Mus81 interaction. For this purpose we mixed S- and His6-tagged Rad54 with His6-tagged Mus81 or His6-Mus81·Mms4 and then incubated the reaction mixtures with S-protein conjugated agarose to capture any Rad54 protein complex that might have formed. We eluted the bound proteins from the S-protein-agarose beads with SDS and then analyzed them by SDS-PAGE. However, we were not able to detect any significant association of Rad54 with either Mus81 or Mus81·Mms4 (data not shown). We note that, as determined by co-immunoprecipitation, Interthal and Heyer found only weak or transient interaction between Rad54 and overexpressed Mus81 (14). One strong possibility is that complex formation between Mus81 and Rad54 occurs on DNA. Therefore, we examined this possibility by incubating Rad54 with Mus81 or Mus81·Mms4 in the presence of 49-mer ss- or dsDNA. We used an amount of Rad54 in excess over DNA as determined by binding experiments (supplemental Fig. 1). Furthermore, the mixture was treated with DNase I to ensure that the association was not due to direct bridging of the interaction via free DNA. As shown in Fig. 1, , only reactions containing dsDNA retained a stoichiometric amount of Mus81 or Mus81·Mms4 on the Rad54-S-protein beads. As expected, Mus81 or Mus81·Mms4 was not retained on the S-protein beads in the absence of Rad54 (Fig. 1, ). The interaction of Mus81 with Rad54 is specific, as Fen1, also a DNA structure-specific endonuclease, did not show any association with Rad54 in the presence of dsDNA (Fig. 1). As reported before (19, 27), Rad54 forms a complex with Rad51 in the absence of DNA (Fig. 1). Taken together, the results show an ability of Mus81 and Mus81·Mms4 to associate with Rad54 protein in a dsDNA-dependent manner.

Rad54 Binds Branched DNA Substrates Preferentially—The requirement for dsDNA in the Rad54·Mus81 interaction prompted us to test the affinity of yeast Rad54 for DNA structures that Mus81·Mms4 complex is able to cleave. Specifically, we examined the affinity of yeast Rad54 protein toward ssDNA, dsDNA, 3′ flap (3Fl), fork, Y form DNA (Y), intact HJ, and also a nicked HJ (Table 1). To do this increasing amounts of Rad54 protein was incubated with the fluorescently labeled substrates followed by resolution of the reaction mixtures on native polyacrylamide gels. Fluorescence imaging analysis of the gels allowed us to detect and quantify the extent of DNA mobility shift. As shown in supplemental Fig. 1, Rad54 protein bound all these DNA substrates with higher affinity for the branched structures. We note that human Rad54 also prefers to bind similar types of DNA molecules (28).

Rad54 Stimulates Cleavage of 3′ DNA Flap—The physical interaction between Rad54 and Mus81 together with the demonstrated binding preference of Rad54 for substrates that Mus81·Mms4 acts on prompted us to test whether Rad54 might modulate the nuclease activity of the Mus81·Mms4 complex. We first used the 3′ DNA flap substrate, as it is bound by Rad54 with higher affinity and represents a relevant DNA intermediate that arises during DNA repair or replication. We performed a Rad54 protein titration with 0.25 nm Mus81·Mms4, an amount that could cleave only a small fraction of the substrate (supplemental Fig. 2, A and C). Importantly, strong enhancement of the Mus81·Mms4 DNA cleavage activity occurred in a Rad54 protein concentration-dependent manner. Flap cleavage was stimulated 3-fold by 1 nm Rad54 and 5-fold by 2 nm Rad54, and complete incision of the substrate was seen when 8 nm Rad54 was added (Fig. 2, ). The plot of the percent product formed as a logarithmic function of Rad54 concentration yields a sigmoid curve for stimulation, with the median effective concentration EC50 = 1.56 nm (Fig. 2). This Rad54 amount corresponds to 6 times that of Mus81·Mms4 heterodimer. Because Rad54 forms oligomeric complexes on DNA (22, 29, 30), our results are consistent with the premise that optimal stimulation of Mus81·Mms4 occurs upon assembly of a Rad54 oligomer. As expected, Rad54 alone was devoid of nucleolytic activity (Fig. 2, , lane 9). Time course experiments provided further details on the effect of Rad54 on the rate of Mus81·Mms4-mediated DNA cleavage (Fig. 3). We note that the presence of Rad54 does not affect the position of the cleavage site within the flap structure (data not shown). In addition, the presence of His6 affinity tag on Mms4 does not have any significant effect on the nuclease activity of Mus81·Mms4 or on the enhancement of substrate cleavage by Rad54 (supplemental Fig. 3). Taken together, the results demonstrate that Rad54 can strongly stimulate the ability of Mus81·Mms4 to cleave the 3′ DNA flap structure and also suggest that optimal enhancement is contingent upon oligomerization of Rad54.

FIGURE 2.

Rad54 concentration-dependent enhancement of Mus81·Mms4-mediated 3′ DNA flap cleavage. Reaction mixtures containing 3′ DNA flap (6 nm), Mus81·Mms4 (0.25 nm), and the indicated amount of Rad54 (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 nm) were incubated at 37 °C for 10 min (A) and 30 min (B) and then analyzed. C, quantification of the data in A and B with S.D. based on three independent experiments. D, plot of percent of product formation as a logarithm of Rad54 concentration with indicated median effective concentration (EC50).

FIGURE 3.

Time course of the enhancement of Mus81·Mms4-mediated 3′ DNA flap cleavage by Rad54. A, Mus81·Mms4 (0.25 nm) was incubated with the 3′ DNA flap (6 nm) at 37 °C in the absence (panel I) or presence of 0.5, 1.5, or 3 nm Rad54 (panels II, III, and IV). Aliquots of the reactions were taken at the indicated times and analyzed. B, quantification of the data with S.D. based on three independent experiments.

Enhancement of Gapped 3′ DNA Flap Cleavage by Rad54—It has been suggested that a crucial determinant for Mus81·Mms4 endonuclease activity is recognition of the 5′ end at the flap junction as the DNA cleavage efficiency declines with increasing DNA gap size in the flap (18). Mus81·Mms4-mediated cleavage of the 3′ DNA flap substrate that harbors a 1-nt gap occurred with a similar efficiency as that of the 3′ DNA flap without any gap (data not shown). However, the cleavage efficiency decreased as the gap size increased to 5 nt and was much lower with a 10-nt gap (Fig. 4). Under the conditions used, the Y substrate was resistant to Mus81·Mms4 cleavage (Fig. 4). Then we tested the ability of Rad54 to stimulate Mus81·Mms4 activity on the gapped 3′ DNA flap structures. The addition of Rad54 (from 0.5 to 16 nm) resulted in the up-regulation of Mus81·Mms4 (0.25 nm) activity on flaps containing a 1- or 5-nt gap (Fig. 4) without effecting significant cleavage of the flap with the 10-nt gap. Interestingly, at 2 nm Mus81·Mms4 that could afford an ∼10% incision of the flap with the 10-nt gap, the addition of Rad54 (from 0.5 to 16 nm) also enhanced DNA cleavage (Fig. 4). In the case of the Y substrate, cleavage was not seen with as high as 10 nm Mus81·Mms4 regardless of whether Rad54 (up to 40 nm) was added or not (Fig. 4).

FIGURE 4.

Effect of Rad54 on Mus81·Mms4 cleavage of 3′ DNA flap substrates with varying gap sizes. A, cleavage of 3′ DNA flap (Fl) substrates with increasing gap size (1, 5, or 10 nt) and of Y form DNA. Each of these substrates (6 nm) was incubated with Mus81·Mms4 (0.13, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, or 8 nm) at 37 °C for 30 min and then analyzed. B, reaction mixtures containing gapped 3′ DNA flaps or Y form DNA (6 nm each), Mus81·Mms4 (0.25 nm), and the indicated amounts of Rad54 (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 nm) were incubated at 37 °C for 30 min and then analyzed. C, Mus81·Mms4 (2 nm) was incubated with the 3′ DNA flap containing a 10-nt gap and Rad54 (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 20, or 40 nm) at 37 °C for 30 min and then analyzed. For the Y form DNA substrate, 10% of cleavage could not be achieved; therefore, 10 nm Mus81·Mms4 was incubated with the indicated amounts of Rad54 (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 20, or 40 nm) at 37 °C for 30 min and then analyzed. D, Rad54 has little effect on the cleavage of an intact HJ. The HJ substrate (2 nm) was incubated with Mus81·Mms4 (65 nm) and with or without Rad54 (15 or 400 nm) at 37 °C for 30 min and then analyzed. Quantification of the data with S.D. was based on three independent experiments. E, cleavage of a nicked HJ (2 nm) by Mus81·Mms4 (0.05 nm) is greatly stimulated by Rad54 (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 nm) in a dose-dependent manner. F, graphical representation of the data shown in panel E with S.D. based on three independent experiments.

Cleavage of Nicked HJ and D-loop Structures Is Also Stimulated by Rad54—Next we wanted to test substrates that are known to arise during homologous recombination, including the D-loop, nicked HJ, and intact HJ. As stated elsewhere (8, 18, 24, 31–33) and confirmed here, Mus81·Mms4 has only a limited ability to cleave an intact HJ. Specifically, as much as 65 nm Mus81·Mms4 cleaved only 6% of the HJ after 30 min of incubation (Fig. 4). The addition of up to 400 nm Rad54 had only a slight stimulatory effect (Fig. 4). As reported before (8, 17, 34) and in our hands also, the cleavage of nicked HJs by Mus81·Mms4 was very efficient and was greatly stimulated by Rad54 to the same extent as when the 3′ DNA flap substrate was used (Fig. 4, ). In addition, we also tested the ability of Rad54 to activate the cleavage of a D-loop substrate by Mus81·Mms4, and a similar level of stimulation was observed (supplemental Fig. 4). In summary, Rad54 is able to dramatically increase the DNA cleavage activity of Mus81·Mms4 on the D-loop and nicked HJ but has little or no effect on the cleavage of the intact HJ.

Stimulation of Mus81 Activity by Rad54 Is Evolutionarily Conserved—To determine whether the functional interaction of Rad54 with Mus81 is evolutionarily conserved, we examined the effect of human Rad54 on the nuclease activity of the human Mus81·Eme1 complex. We used the 3′ DNA flap substrate and demonstrated that the addition of human Rad54 (0.5–16 nm) to the reaction containing 0.13 nm Mus81·Eme1 resulted in a robust enhancement of nuclease activity (Fig. 5, ). The extent of stimulation was similar to that obtained with the equivalent yeast proteins.

FIGURE 5.

Enhancement of the human Mus81·Eme1 nuclease function by human Rad54. A, the 3′ DNA flap substrate (6 nm) was incubated with human Mus81·Eme1 (0.13 nm) and without or with human Rad54 (hRad54) (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 nm) at 37 °C for 30 min and then analyzed. B, quantification of the data shown in panel A. C, human Rad54 enhances the nuclease activity of Mus81·Mms4. The 3′ DNA flap (6 nm) was incubated with Mus81·Mms4 (0.25 nm) and the indicated amounts of human Rad54 (4, 8, or 16 nm) or yeast Rad54 (yRad54, 2 or 4 nm) at 37 °C for 30 min and then analyzed. D, quantification of the data shown in C.

We next asked whether human and yeast Rad54 proteins are interchangeable with regard to the enhancement of the Mus81·Mms4 (Eme1) nuclease function. As shown in Fig. 5, , hRad54, at the relatively higher concentration of 4–16 nm, exerted a 2.5–5-fold stimulatory effect on the Mus81·Mms4 (0.25 nm) activity. Similarly, yeast Rad54, at the relatively high concentration of 4–16 nm, was also able to stimulate Mus81·Eme1 (0.13 nm) by about 3-fold (data not shown). On the other hand, yeast Rad54 does not have any effect on the activity of another DNA structure-specific nuclease, Fen1 (Fig. 6, ). Overall, the results in this section provide evidence that the Rad54-mediated enhancement of the Mus81·Mms4 (Eme1) nuclease function is specific and evolutionarily conserved.

FIGURE 6.

ATP binding and hydrolysis by Rad54 is dispensable for Mus81·Mms4 enhancement. A, the nuclease activity of Fen1 is unresponsive to Rad54. The 5′ DNA flap (6 nm) was incubated with Fen1 (2 nm) without or with Rad54 (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 nm) at 37 °C for 30 min and then analyzed. B, quantification of the data shown in panel A with S.D. based on three independent experiments. C, the 3′ DNA flap (6 nm) was incubated in buffer containing ATP with Mus81·Mms4 (0.25 nm) and Rad54, rad54-K341A, or rad54-K341R (1, 2, or 4 nm concentrations of each protein) at 37 °C for 10 min and then analyzed. wt, wild type. D, the data from the 10- and 30-min time points of the experiment in C were plotted.

ATP Binding and Hydrolysis by Rad54 Is Dispensable for Mus81·Mms4 Nuclease Enhancement— Rad54 possesses a dsDNA-dependent ATPase activity (19, 35). We sought to establish the role of ATP binding and hydrolysis in the Rad54-mediated stimulation of the Mus81·Mms4 nuclease activity. For this purpose we used two mutants, rad54-K341A and rad54-K341R, that are expected to be defective in interaction with ATP and to retain the ability to bind but not hydrolyze ATP, respectively (22). As shown in Fig. 6, , rad54-K341A and rad54-K341R were just as proficient as the wild type protein in enhancing the cleavage of the 3′ flap DNA by Mus81·Mms4 in the presence of ATP, thus formally establishing that the up-regulation of the Mus81·Mms4 nuclease function does not require binding or hydrolysis of ATP by Rad54.

Rad54 Targets Mus81·Mms4 Complex to the DNA Substrate— Because our results have suggested that physical interaction between Rad54 and Mus81 or Mus81·Mms4 occurs when these protein species are DNA-bound (Fig. 1), we asked whether Rad54 serves to target Mus81·Mms4 to various DNA substrates. We set up two experiments using mixtures of different substrates to address this possibility. In one reaction Rad54 (2 nm) was preincubated with a non-cleavable intact HJ before the cleavable DNA fork substrate was added together with Mus81·Mms4 (0.25 nm). This resulted in a modest stimulation of DNA fork cleavage compared with the control reaction without Rad54 (Fig. 7, , compare lanes 2 and 3). On the other hand, preincubation of Rad54 with the fork substrate resulted in strong stimulation of its cleavage (∼9-fold) (Fig. 7, , lane 4). In the other assay we used two cleavable substrates, a nicked HJ and a 3′ DNA flap, labeled with FITC and Cy3 fluorescent dyes, respectively, to allow us to distinguish the products resulting from the cleavage of these substrates. Preincubation with Rad54 again led to a greater enhancement of substrate cleavage (Fig. 7, , compare lanes 3 and 4). Altogether these results suggest that Rad54 acts by targeting the Mus81·Mms4 complex to its cleavage substrate, and it does not seem to function in trans.

Epistatic Relationship of Rad54 and Mus81—Previous genetic analysis showed that Rad54 and Mus81 act together in the recombination pathway for the repair of γ-ray induced DNA damage (14). We wanted to investigate their relationship in regard to the removal of replication-blocking damage. Therefore, we tested sensitivities of rad54, mus81, or the double mutant to CPT and HU, which impede DNA replication by poisoning topoisomerase I and ribonucleotide reductase, respectively. As shown in Fig. 8, , the mus81 rad54 double mutant was no more sensitive to CPT or HU than the rad54 single mutant. Thus, RAD54 and MUS81 likely act in the same pathway for the repair of injured DNA replication forks.

FIGURE 8.

Epistatic relationship of Rad54 and Mus81. Sensitivity of wild type (WT), mus81Δ, rad54Δ, and double mutant cells to DNA-damaging agents was assayed by growth on plates containing the indicated concentrations of CPT (A) or HU (B). YPD, yeast extract/peptone/dextrose. C, representative maximum intensity projection image of CPT-induced Mus81-yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) foci (indicated by arrows). Images were captured 5 h after treatment. Scale bar, 3 μm. DIC, differential interference contrast. D, quantification of Mus81 foci in RAD54, rad54Δ, rad54-K341A (rad54-K/A), and rad54-K341R (rad54-K/R) genetic backgrounds. IR-treated cells were examined for foci 3 h after treatment. CPT-treated cells were examined 5 h post-treatment. Bars indicate the frequency of Mus81 foci observed in S phase or G2/M cells (Budded cells). Error bars depict the binomial S.E. Significance from the wild type was determined by a χ2 test.

This observation together with our biochemical data prompted us to test whether Rad54 and Mus81 co-localize in vivo with or without DNA damaging treatment. Only about 5% of the budded cells contained spontaneous Mus81 foci, and this formation was induced to 9% by DNA damage treatment. In contrast to frequent and bright Rad54 foci (∼70% of budded cells after DNA damage treatment, data not shown), Mus81 foci were quite dim (Fig. 8), suggesting that these foci contain only very few Mus81·Mms4 molecules. Interestingly, we noticed only transient co-localization of both proteins (data not shown), which is in agreement with the nature of this protein-protein interaction seen in a biochemical pulldown. Importantly, deletion of the RAD54 gene causes a significant reduction of Mus81 focus formation especially in the presence of DNA damage (Fig. 8). However, Mus81 focus formation is decreased only by the absence of Rad54 but not by the lack of Rad54 ATPase activity, as both the rad54-K341R and rad54-K341A mutants are still able to assemble DNA damage-induced Mus81 foci (Fig. 8). Taken together, our results suggest that Rad54 and Mus81 function together in the repair of chromosome damage caused by γ-rays as well as replication blocking agents and that the ATPase activity of Rad54 is dispensable in this regard.

DISCUSSION

The Mus81·Mms4 (Eme1) complex is believed to be responsible for processing intermediates of homologous recombination as well as those derived from stalled, blocked, and broken replication forks. However, the manner in which the activities of Mus81·Mms4 are connected to these cellular processes is still not clear. Interestingly, Mus81 was first identified in a two-hybrid screen for Rad54 interacting partners, and this interaction seems to be evolutionary conserved from yeast to humans (14, 36, 37). Rad54 is one of the key proteins involved in homologous recombination. It interacts with the Rad51 recombinase, promotes the assembly and stability of Rad51 filament, stimulates D-loop formation, and could allow Rad51 filament to engage in homology search. In addition, Rad54 removes Rad51 from dsDNA, remodels chromatin structure, and also promotes the migration of branched DNA structures (38, 39).

We have presented data showing a direct physical interaction of Rad54 with Mus81 and the Mus81·Mms4 complex when dsDNA is present. It is possible that the two-hybrid signal of Mus81·Rad54 interaction reflects a transient association of these proteins or that it stems from an interaction of these proteins on DNA (14). We note that even though yeast Rad52 binds RPA in the yeast two-hybrid assay (40), significant complex formation between the two purified proteins requires ssDNA (41). We also show that the association of Rad54 with Mus81·Mms4 leads to a strong stimulation of the nuclease activity of the latter on a variety of substrates and that cleavage by human Mus81·Eme1 is similarly enhanced by human Rad54, indicating evolutionary conservation of the functional interaction between these two protein species. We note that while our work was undergoing peer review, a paper by Mazina and Mazin (42) showing enhancement of the Mus81·Eme1 nuclease activity by human Rad54 had appeared. Rad54 possesses ATP-dependent branch migration activity on Holliday junctions (43, 44). Our results and those of Mazina and Mazin (42) provide biochemical and biological insights linking the ability of Rad54 to promote D-loop formation (19) and branch migration of late recombination intermediates (43, 44) with the nucleolytic processing of replication and/or recombination intermediates by Mus81·Mms4 (Eme1).

Interestingly, neither ATP binding nor its hydrolysis by Rad54 is needed for the stimulation of Mus81·Mms4 nuclease activity in vitro. Genetic results presented here and elsewhere (14) establish that Rad54 and Mus81 function together in the same pathways of DNA damage and replication fork repair and that the assembly of DNA damage-induced Mus81 foci is dependent on Rad54. Both the rad54-K341R and rad54-K341A mutants are still able to assemble DNA damage-induced Mus81 foci. This observation is in congruence with a less severe defect in recombination rates for both mutants compared with the rad54Δ mutant (22). However, we expect the dsDNA translocase and DNA branch migration activities of Rad54 (30, 43–46) to facilitate the formation of substrates that are resolved by the Mus81·Mms4 complex in vivo. The yeast mus81 and rad54 mutants fall into the same epistasis group regarding γ-ray sensitivity (14), and we have presented data showing epistasis of these mutants in the repair of damaged replication forks as well. We note that homologous recombination mediated by Mus81·Eme1 and Rad54 is needed for the DNA replication-dependent interstrand DNA cross-link repair pathway in human cells, with Mus81 contributing to replication restart by generating double-strand breaks (13, 47, 48). In addition, the yeast mus81 and mms4 mutants are inviable in the absence of the Sgs1 helicase, which is thought to act in conjunction with Top3 and Rmi1 to resolve late recombination intermediates, such as the double Holliday junction, to generate non-crossover recombinants (18, 49). Thus, Rad54 together with Mus81·Mms4 (Eme1) comprises an alternative mechanism for the resolution of DNA intermediates parallel to the Sgs1·Top3 (BLM·Top3) pathway. Both mus81 and mms4 mutants show severe meiotic phenotypes as a result of unprocessed recombination intermediates that activate a meiotic checkpoint (50, 51). Importantly, defects in the initiation of recombination are able to overcome the sgs1 synthetic lethality in both budding and fission yeasts (8, 15, 51). Overall, the available evidence is consistent with the premise that Mus81·Mms4 (Eme1) helps to resolve otherwise toxic recombination intermediates in mitotic and meiotic cells, and our biochemical data reveal an involvement of Rad54 in the enhancement of these Mus81·Mms4 (Eme1) activities.

There has been much discussion regarding the possible role of Mus81·Mms4 in the nucleolytic resolution of intact HJs. We have confirmed that a nicked HJ is more efficiently cleaved by Mus81·Mms4 than an intact HJ. Although Rad54 renders the Mus81·Mms4-mediated cleavage of flap substrates efficiently, it has only minimal stimulatory effect on the cleavage of an intact HJ. This result argues against Mus81·Mms4 acting to resolve HJ structures in cells and is consistent with the suggestion that the cleavage of intact HJs reflects a secondary effect of Mus81·Mms4 flap cleavage activity (24). Furthermore, the efficient cleavage of nicked HJ structure supports a mechanism by which Mus81·Mms4 could act on the nascent D-loop before it is converted into an intact HJ. As discussed by others previously, Mus81·Mms4-mediated D-loop cleavage may favor crossover production during meiosis and could account for the decrease in crossovers observed for mus81 mutants (10). However, one cannot exclude the possibility that there is another partner of Mus81·Mms4 that allows the latter to act on intact HJs in cells (52–54).

The successful assembly of a Rad51 nucleoprotein filament is a prerequisite for Rad54 recruitment to recombination substrates in cells (26, 27, 55, 56) placing Rad54 in temporal and spatial arrangement to mediate later steps in recombination. During these steps, via its ability to stimulate the recombinase activity of Rad51 and to migrate branched DNA structures (43, 44), Rad54 is expected to mediate the formation of certain DNA structures, such as the D-loop or nicked Holliday junction, that are subject to nucleolytic processing by the Mus81·Mms4 complex. In this regard, Rad54 likely targets Mus81·Mms4 to these structures to affect their processing. However, from genetic experiments (6, 39), it seems clear that Mus81·Mms4 and Rad54 also possess additional functions during meiotic or damage-induced double-strand break repair.

Recently, the human BLM helicase was also shown to stimulate the nuclease activity of the Mus81·Eme1 complex, albeit to a lesser degree than what we have documented for Rad54 (57). Interestingly, both BLM and Rad54 are capable of mediating the migration of branched DNA structures. The lesser ability of BLM to activate Mus81·Eme1 could reflect a role of BLM as a backup to the Rad54-mediated up-regulation of the Mus81·Eme1 nuclease function.