Mechanistic Modelling and Bayesian Inference Elucidates the Variable Dynamics of Double-Strand Break Repair.

DNA double-strand breaks are lesions that form during metabolism, DNA replication and exposure to mutagens. When a double-strand break occurs one of a number of repair mechanisms is recruited, all of which have differing propensities for mutational events. Despite DNA repair being of crucial importa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mae L Woods, Chris P Barnes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016-10-01
Series:PLoS Computational Biology
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005131&type=printable
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849467738523697152
author Mae L Woods
Chris P Barnes
author_facet Mae L Woods
Chris P Barnes
author_sort Mae L Woods
collection DOAJ
description DNA double-strand breaks are lesions that form during metabolism, DNA replication and exposure to mutagens. When a double-strand break occurs one of a number of repair mechanisms is recruited, all of which have differing propensities for mutational events. Despite DNA repair being of crucial importance, the relative contribution of these mechanisms and their regulatory interactions remain to be fully elucidated. Understanding these mutational processes will have a profound impact on our knowledge of genomic instability, with implications across health, disease and evolution. Here we present a new method to model the combined activation of non-homologous end joining, single strand annealing and alternative end joining, following exposure to ionising radiation. We use Bayesian statistics to integrate eight biological data sets of double-strand break repair curves under varying genetic knockouts and confirm that our model is predictive by re-simulating and comparing to additional data. Analysis of the model suggests that there are at least three disjoint modes of repair, which we assign as fast, slow and intermediate. Our results show that when multiple data sets are combined, the rate for intermediate repair is variable amongst genetic knockouts. Further analysis suggests that the ratio between slow and intermediate repair depends on the presence or absence of DNA-PKcs and Ku70, which implies that non-homologous end joining and alternative end joining are not independent. Finally, we consider the proportion of double-strand breaks within each mechanism as a time series and predict activity as a function of repair rate. We outline how our insights can be directly tested using imaging and sequencing techniques and conclude that there is evidence of variable dynamics in alternative repair pathways. Our approach is an important step towards providing a unifying theoretical framework for the dynamics of DNA repair processes.
format Article
id doaj-art-e60fd7dc7e03408fa5f035e453034301
institution Kabale University
issn 1553-734X
1553-7358
language English
publishDate 2016-10-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS Computational Biology
spelling doaj-art-e60fd7dc7e03408fa5f035e4530343012025-08-20T03:26:05ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Computational Biology1553-734X1553-73582016-10-011210e100513110.1371/journal.pcbi.1005131Mechanistic Modelling and Bayesian Inference Elucidates the Variable Dynamics of Double-Strand Break Repair.Mae L WoodsChris P BarnesDNA double-strand breaks are lesions that form during metabolism, DNA replication and exposure to mutagens. When a double-strand break occurs one of a number of repair mechanisms is recruited, all of which have differing propensities for mutational events. Despite DNA repair being of crucial importance, the relative contribution of these mechanisms and their regulatory interactions remain to be fully elucidated. Understanding these mutational processes will have a profound impact on our knowledge of genomic instability, with implications across health, disease and evolution. Here we present a new method to model the combined activation of non-homologous end joining, single strand annealing and alternative end joining, following exposure to ionising radiation. We use Bayesian statistics to integrate eight biological data sets of double-strand break repair curves under varying genetic knockouts and confirm that our model is predictive by re-simulating and comparing to additional data. Analysis of the model suggests that there are at least three disjoint modes of repair, which we assign as fast, slow and intermediate. Our results show that when multiple data sets are combined, the rate for intermediate repair is variable amongst genetic knockouts. Further analysis suggests that the ratio between slow and intermediate repair depends on the presence or absence of DNA-PKcs and Ku70, which implies that non-homologous end joining and alternative end joining are not independent. Finally, we consider the proportion of double-strand breaks within each mechanism as a time series and predict activity as a function of repair rate. We outline how our insights can be directly tested using imaging and sequencing techniques and conclude that there is evidence of variable dynamics in alternative repair pathways. Our approach is an important step towards providing a unifying theoretical framework for the dynamics of DNA repair processes.https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005131&type=printable
spellingShingle Mae L Woods
Chris P Barnes
Mechanistic Modelling and Bayesian Inference Elucidates the Variable Dynamics of Double-Strand Break Repair.
PLoS Computational Biology
title Mechanistic Modelling and Bayesian Inference Elucidates the Variable Dynamics of Double-Strand Break Repair.
title_full Mechanistic Modelling and Bayesian Inference Elucidates the Variable Dynamics of Double-Strand Break Repair.
title_fullStr Mechanistic Modelling and Bayesian Inference Elucidates the Variable Dynamics of Double-Strand Break Repair.
title_full_unstemmed Mechanistic Modelling and Bayesian Inference Elucidates the Variable Dynamics of Double-Strand Break Repair.
title_short Mechanistic Modelling and Bayesian Inference Elucidates the Variable Dynamics of Double-Strand Break Repair.
title_sort mechanistic modelling and bayesian inference elucidates the variable dynamics of double strand break repair
url https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005131&type=printable
work_keys_str_mv AT maelwoods mechanisticmodellingandbayesianinferenceelucidatesthevariabledynamicsofdoublestrandbreakrepair
AT chrispbarnes mechanisticmodellingandbayesianinferenceelucidatesthevariabledynamicsofdoublestrandbreakrepair