Oocytes can efficiently repair DNA double-strand breaks to restore genetic integrity and protect offspring health
Journal Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Publication Type
Journal epub ahead of print
Abstract
Female fertility and offspring health are critically dependent on an adequate supply of high-quality oocytes, the majority of which are maintained in the ovaries in a unique state of meiotic prophase arrest. While mechanisms of DNA repair during meiotic recombination are well characterized, the same is not true for prophase-arrested oocytes. Here we show that prophase-arrested oocytes rapidly respond to gamma-irradiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks by activating Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated, phosphorylating histone H2AX, and localizing RAD51 to the sites of DNA damage. Despite mobilizing the DNA repair response, even very low levels of DNA damage result in the apoptosis of prophase-arrested oocytes. However, we show that, when apoptosis is inhibited, severe DNA damage is corrected via homologous recombination repair. The repair is sufficient to support fertility and maintain health and genetic fidelity in offspring. Thus, despite the preferential induction of apoptosis following exogenously induced genotoxic stress, prophase-arrested oocytes are highly capable of functionally efficient DNA repair. These data implicate DNA repair as a key quality control mechanism in the female germ line and a critical determinant of fertility and genetic integrity.
Publisher
Rockefeller University Press
Research Division(s)
Epigenetics And Development
PubMed ID
32381741
Terms of Use/Rights Notice
Refer to copyright notice on published article.


Creation Date: 2020-05-18 11:15:18
Last Modified: 2020-05-18 11:59:24
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