1. The tardigrade Dsup protein enhances radioresistance in Drosophila melanogaster and acts as an unspecific repressor of transcription
- Author
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Mikhail Zarubin, Talyana Azorskaya, Olga Kuldoshina, Sergey Alekseev, Semen Mitrofanov, and Elena Kravchenko
- Subjects
Molecular biology ,Cell biology ,Transcriptomics ,Science - Abstract
Summary: The tardigrade-unique damage suppressor protein (Dsup) can protect DNA from ionizing radiation and reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, we generated Dsup-expressing lines of Drosophila melanogaster and demonstrated that Dsup increased the survival rate after γ-ray irradiation and hydrogen peroxide treatment in flies too, but reduced the level of their locomotor activity. The transcriptome analyses of Dsup-expressing lines revealed a significant number of DEGs, >99% of which were down-regulated. Moreover, Dsup could bind RNA. These findings suggest that Dsup can act not only as a DNA protector but also as a non-specific transcriptional repressor and RNA-binding protein, that may lead to disturbance of a number of biological processes in D. melanogaster. The obtained data demonstrate features of the Dsup protein action in non-tardigrade organisms and can be used to understand the impact of other unspecific DNA/RNA-binding proteins on ROS and radiation resistance, gene expression, and epigenetic processes.
- Published
- 2023
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