The molecular basis of ATM-dependent dimerization of the Mdc1 DNA damage checkpoint mediator

Jungmichel, Stephanie ; Clapperton, Julie A. ; Lloyd, Janette ; Hari, Flurina J. ; Spycher, Christoph ; Pavic, Lucijana ; Li, Jiejin ; Haire, Lesley F. ; Bonalli, Mario ; Larsen, Dorthe H. ; Lukas, Claudia ; Lukas, Jiri ; MacMillan, Derek ; Nielsen, Michael L. ; Stucki, Manuel ; Smerdon, Stephen J.

In: Nucleic Acids Research, 2012, vol. 40, no. 9, p. 3913-3928

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    Summary
    Mdc1 is a large modular phosphoprotein scaffold that maintains signaling and repair complexes at double-stranded DNA break sites. Mdc1 is anchored to damaged chromatin through interaction of its C-terminal BRCT-repeat domain with the tail of γH2AX following DNA damage, but the role of the N-terminal forkhead-associated (FHA) domain remains unclear. We show that a major binding target of the Mdc1 FHA domain is a previously unidentified DNA damage and ATM-dependent phosphorylation site near the N-terminus of Mdc1 itself. Binding to this motif stabilizes a weak self-association of the FHA domain to form a tight dimer. X-ray structures of free and complexed Mdc1 FHA domain reveal a ‘head-to-tail' dimerization mechanism that is closely related to that seen in pre-activated forms of the Chk2 DNA damage kinase, and which both positively and negatively influences Mdc1 FHA domain-mediated interactions in human cells prior to and following DNA damage