Double-strand breaks (DSBs) are one of the most deleterious types of DNA lesions challenging genome integrity. The DNA damage response (DDR) promotes fast and effective detection and repair of the damaged DNA, leading to cell cycle arrest through checkpoint activation and the recruitment of repair factors such as the homologous recombination (HR) machinery. HR constitutes the main DSB repair pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and despite being largely considered an error-free process and essential for genome stability, uncontrolled recombination can lead to loss of heterozygosity, translocations, deletions, and genome rearrangements that can lead to cell death or cancer in humans. The post-translational modification by SUMO (small ubiquitinlike modifier) has proven to be an important regulator of HR and genome integrity, but the molecular mechanisms responsible for these roles are still unclear.
In this study I present new insights for the role of SUMOylation in regulating HR by dissecting the role of SUMO in the interaction between the central HR-mediator protein Rad52 and its paralogue Rad59 and the outcome of recombination. This data provides evidence for the importance of SUMO in promoting protein-protein interactions at the sites of repair, enabling effective Rad51-mediated recombination through the concerted action of the Rad52-Rad59 complex and the helicase Srs2. In addition, I also peer into the role of
Rad52 SUMOylation in the context of persistent DSBs and telomere homeostasis.
Furthermore, I characterize Mte1, a novel protein involved in DDR that associates with the helicase Mph1 and Rad52. Moreover, I find that Mte1 associates with dysfunctional single-stranded telomeric DNA, constituting a novel factor in telomere homeostasis, potentially associated with replication-stress relief.