The impact of transcription-mediated replication stress on genome instability and human disease

Abstract

AbstractDNA replication is a vital process in all living organisms. At each cell division, > 30,000 replication origins are activated in a coordinated manner to ensure the duplication of > 6 billion base pairs of the human genome. During differentiation and development, this program must adapt to changes in chromatin organization and gene transcription: its deregulation can challenge genome stability, which is a leading cause of many diseases including cancers and neurological disorders. Over the past decade, great progress has been made to better understand the mechanisms of DNA replication regulation and how its deregulation challenges genome integrity and leads to human disease. Growing evidence shows that gene transcription has an essential role in shaping the landscape of genome replication, while it is also a major source of endogenous replication stress inducing genome instability. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge on the various mechanisms by which gene transcription can impact on DNA replication, leading to genome instability and human disease.