Efficient repair of chromosomal double-strand breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination relies on the formation of a Rad51 recombinase filament that forms on single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) created at DSB ends. This filament facilitates the search for a homologous donor sequence and promotes strand invasion. Recently caffeine treatment has been shown to prevent gene targeting in mammalian cells by increasing non-productive Rad51 interactions between the DSB and random regions of the genome. Here we show that caffeine treatment prevents gene conversion in yeast, independently of its inhibition of the Mec1(ATR)/Tel1(ATM)-dependent DNA damage response or caffeine's inhibition of 5' to 3' resection of DSB ends. Caffeine treatment results in a dosage-dependent eviction of Rad51 from ssDNA. Gene conversion is impaired even at low concentrations of caffeine, where there is no discernible dismantling of the Rad51 filament. Loss of the Rad51 filament integrity is independent of Srs2's Rad51 filament dismantling activity or Rad51's ATPase activity and does not depend on non-specific Rad51 binding to undamaged double-stranded DNA. Caffeine treatment had similar effects on irradiated HeLa cells, promoting loss of previously assembled Rad51 foci. We conclude that caffeine treatment can disrupt gene conversion by disrupting Rad51 filaments.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 19 September 2015.
All research outputs
#13,436,543
of 22,807,037 outputs
Outputs from Nucleic Acids Research
#20,586
of 26,311 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#126,743
of 266,724 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Nucleic Acids Research
#197
of 348 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,807,037 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 39th percentile – i.e., 39% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 26,311 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.6. This one is in the 20th percentile – i.e., 20% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 266,724 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 348 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 41st percentile – i.e., 41% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
