Breakage of cytoplasmic chromosomes by pathological DNA base excision repair

Chromothripsis is a catastrophic mutational process that promotes tumorigenesis and causes congenital disease1-4. Chromothripsis originates from aberrations of nuclei called micronuclei or chromosome bridge5-8. These structures have fragile nuclear envelopes (NEs) that spontaneously rupture9,10, leading to DNA damage when chromatin is exposed to the interphase cytoplasm. Here, we identify a mechanism explaining a major fraction of this DNA damage. Micronuclei accumulate large amounts of RNA-DNA hybrids, which are edited by ADAR enzymes (adenine deaminases acting on RNA) to generate deoxyinosine (dI). dI is then converted into abasic sites by a DNA base excision repair (BER) glycosylase, MPG (N-methyl-purine DNA glycosylase)11,12. These abasic sites are cleaved by the BER endonuclease, APE1 (apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease)12, creating single-strand DNA nicks that can be converted to DNA double strand breaks by DNA replication or when closely spaced nicks occur on opposite strands13,14. This model predicts that MPG should be able to remove the dI base from the DNA strand of RNA-DNA hybrids, which we demonstrate using pure proteins and oligonucleotide substrates. These findings identify a mechanism for fragmentation of micronuclear chromosomes, an important step in generating chromothripsis. Rather than breaking any normal chromosome, we propose that the eukaryotic cytoplasm only damages chromosomes with preexisting defects such as the DNA base abnormality described here.