PLK1 targets CtIP to promote microhomology-mediated end joining

Proper DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair is essential for maintaining genome integrity. Microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ) is an error-prone repair mechanism, which introduces mutations at break sites and contributes to chromosomal translocations and telomere fusions, thus driving carcinogenesis. Mitotic kinases PLK1, CDK1 and Aurora A are important for supporting MMEJ and are often overexpressed in various tumors. However, the functional interplay between these kinases and MMEJ has not been explored. Here, we found that MMEJ is preferentially employed to fix DSBs in cells arrested in mitosis following nocodazole treatment. We further showed that the DSB repair factor CtIP is jointly phosphorylated by CDK1/Aurora A and PLK1. CDK1/Aurora A-mediated CtIP phosphorylation at serine 327 triggers CtIP binding to the PLK1 polo-box domain, which in turn facilitates PLK1 to phosphorylate CtIP mainly at serine 723. A PLK1 phosphor-mimic CtIP mutant fails to initiate extended end resection and is thus unable to mediate homologous recombination and the G2/M checkpoint but can mediate MMEJ. These data imply that PLK1 may target CtIP to promote error-prone MMEJ and inactivate the G2/M checkpoint. These findings have helped elucidate the oncogenic roles of these factors.