Cellular Depletion of BRD8 Causes p53-Dependent Apoptosis and Induces a DNA Damage Response in Non-Stressed Cells

Regulation of the chromatin state is crucial for biological processes such as the regulation of transcription, DNA replication, and DNA damage repair. Here we show that knockdown of the BRD8 bromodomain protein – a subunit of the p400/Tip60 complex - leads to p21 induction, and concomitant cell cycle arrest in G1/S. We further demonstrate that the p53 transcriptional pathway is activated in BRD8-depleted cells, and this accounts for upregulation of not only p21 but also of pro-apoptotic genes, leading to subsequent apoptosis. Importantly, the DNA damage response (DDR) is induced upon BRD8 depletion, and DNA damage foci are detectable in BRD8-depleted cells under normal growth conditions. Consistently with an activated DDR, we find that in BRD8-depleted cells, the ATM-CHK2 DDR pathway is turned on but, CHK1 proteins levels are severely reduced and replication stress is detectable as enhanced replication protein A (RPA32) phosphorylation levels. Notably, acetylation of histone H4 at K16 (H4K16ac) is reduced in BRD8-depleted cells, suggesting that BRD8 may have a role in the recruitment and/or stabilization of the p400/Tip60 complex within chromatin, thereby facilitating DNA repair. Taken together, our results suggest that BRD8 is involved not only in p53-dependent gene suppression, but also in the maintenance of genome stability.