histone h1 couples initiation and amplification of

54
university of copenhagen Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of ubiquitin signalling after DNA damage Thorslund, Tina; Ripplinger, Anita; Hoffmann, Saskia; Wild, Thomas; Uckelmann, Michael; Villumsen, Bine; Narita, Takeo; Sixma, Titia K; Choudhary, Chuna Ram; Bekker-Jensen, Simon; Mailand, Niels Published in: Nature DOI: 10.1038/nature15401 Publication date: 2015 Document version Peer reviewed version Citation for published version (APA): Thorslund, T., Ripplinger, A., Hoffmann, S., Wild, T., Uckelmann, M., Villumsen, B., Narita, T., Sixma, T. K., Choudhary, C. R., Bekker-Jensen, S., & Mailand, N. (2015). Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of ubiquitin signalling after DNA damage. Nature, 527(7578), 389-93. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15401 Download date: 10. apr.. 2022

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Page 1: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

u n i ve r s i t y o f co pe n h ag e n

Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of ubiquitin signalling after DNAdamage

Thorslund, Tina; Ripplinger, Anita; Hoffmann, Saskia; Wild, Thomas; Uckelmann, Michael;Villumsen, Bine; Narita, Takeo; Sixma, Titia K; Choudhary, Chuna Ram; Bekker-Jensen,Simon; Mailand, Niels

Published in:Nature

DOI:10.1038/nature15401

Publication date:2015

Document versionPeer reviewed version

Citation for published version (APA):Thorslund, T., Ripplinger, A., Hoffmann, S., Wild, T., Uckelmann, M., Villumsen, B., Narita, T., Sixma, T. K.,Choudhary, C. R., Bekker-Jensen, S., & Mailand, N. (2015). Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification ofubiquitin signalling after DNA damage. Nature, 527(7578), 389-93. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15401

Download date: 10. apr.. 2022

Page 2: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

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Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of ubiquitin signaling after DNA

damage

Tina Thorslund1,*, Anita Ripplinger1,*, Saskia Hoffmann1,*, Thomas Wild2,*, Michael

Uckelmann3, Bine Villumsen1, Takeo Narita2, Titia K. Sixma3, Chunaram Choudhary2, Simon

Bekker-Jensen1, Niels Mailand1,#

1Ubiquitin Signaling Group, Protein Signaling Program; and 2Proteomics Program, The

Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, Faculty of Health and Medical

Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3B, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark;

3Division of Biochemistry, Cancer Genomics Center, Netherlands Cancer Institute,

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Running title: RNF8 ubiquitylates histone H1 after DNA damage

*These authors contributed equally to this study

#Correspondence and requests for materials to N.M.; phone: +45 35 32 50 23; e-mail:

[email protected]

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DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are highly cytotoxic DNA lesions that trigger non-

proteolytic ubiquitylation of adjacent chromatin areas to generate binding sites for DNA

repair factors. This depends on the sequential actions of the E3 ubiquitin ligases RNF8

and RNF168 1-6, and Ubc13, an E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that specifically

generates K63-linked ubiquitin chains 7. While RNF168 catalyzes ubiquitylation of H2A-

type histones leading to recruitment of repair factors such as 53BP1 8-10, the critical

substrates of RNF8 and K63-linked ubiquitylation remain elusive. Here we elucidate

how RNF8 and Ubc13 promote recruitment of RNF168 and downstream factors to DSB

sites. We establish that Ubc13-dependent K63-linked ubiquitylation at DSB sites is

predominantly mediated by RNF8 but not RNF168, and that H1-type linker histones,

but not core histones, represent major chromatin-associated targets of this modification.

The RNF168 module (UDM1) recognizing RNF8-generated ubiquitylations 11 is a high-

affinity reader of K63-ubiquitylated H1, mechanistically explaining the essential roles of

RNF8 and Ubc13 in recruiting RNF168 to DSBs. Consistently, reduced expression or

chromatin association of linker histones impair accumulation of K63-linked ubiquitin

conjugates and repair factors at DSB-flanking chromatin. These results identify histone

H1 as a key target of RNF8-Ubc13 in DSB signaling and expand the concept of the

histone code 12,13 by showing that posttranslational modifications of linker histones can

serve as important marks for recognition by factors involved in genome stability

maintenance, and possibly beyond.

To mechanistically explain the critical role of Ubc13 in the RNF8/RNF168 pathway, we

generated human Ubc13 knockout cells using CRISPR/Cas9 technology 14,15 (Fig 1a). As

expected, loss of Ubc13 abrogated the accumulation of RNF168, RNF168-dependent

ubiquitin conjugates, and 53BP1 and other readers of these marks at DSB sites, while RNF8

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recruitment was normal (Fig. 1b,c; Extended Data Fig. 1a,b). Reintroducing Ubc13 into these

cells restored 53BP1 focus formation, as did a fusion protein mimicking an RNF8-Ubc13 E3-

E2 complex 16,17, independently of endogenous RNF8 (Fig. 1d; Extended Data Fig. 1c,d). In

contrast, expression of RNF8 alone or other RNF8-E2 chimeras failed to support 53BP1

accumulation at DSBs in these cells (Fig. 1d; Extended Data Fig. 1c). Unlike RNF8,

overexpression of RNF168 was sufficient to restore 53BP1 recruitment to damaged DNA in

Ubc13 knockout cells (Extended Data Fig. 1e). These data suggest that Ubc13 mainly

cooperates with RNF8 but not RNF168 to catalyze K63 ubiquitylation of DSB-flanking

chromatin to promote recruitment of repair factors.

To understand the molecular basis of this process, we employed a tandem ubiquitin-binding

entity (‘K63-Super-UIM’) 18 that showed remarkable specificity for binding to K63-linkages

but not other ubiquitin chain types (Fig. 1e,f). Indeed, GFP-tagged K63-Super-UIM, but not a

ubiquitin binding-deficient mutant (Fig. 1e,f), was efficiently recruited to microlaser- and

ionizing radiation (IR)-generated DSBs (Extended Data Fig. 2a-c), thus providing an efficient

sensor of DSB-associated K63 ubiquitylation 19. Depletion of Ubc13 or RNF8, but not

RNF168, abrogated recruitment of the K63-Super-UIM, as well as an independently derived

high-affinity binder of K63-linked ubiquitin chains, to DSB sites, and autoubiquitylation-

generated K63 ubiquitin chains were abundantly present on RNF8 but not RNF168 (Fig. 1g;

Extended Data Fig. 2b-f). This suggests that the roles of RNF8 and RNF168 in promoting

DSB-associated chromatin ubiquitylation can be functionally uncoupled and that RNF8, but

not RNF168, is a primary mediator of Ubc13-dependent K63 ubiquitylation at DSB sites.

To identify RNF8-Ubc13-dependent ubiquitylation processes underlying RNF168 recruitment

to DSBs, we first characterized the impact of Ubc13 loss on global K63-linked ubiquitylation

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under steady state conditions. While K63-linked ubiquitylation is thought to be mainly

catalyzed by Ubc13 7, the extent to which this E2 contributes to the total pool of K63

ubiquitin linkages in human cells is not known. To address this, we quantified the relative

abundance of different ubiquitin chains in HCT116 wild type (WT) and Ubc13 knockout cells

using SILAC-based mass spectrometry. Ablation of Ubc13 decreased the global level of K63

ubiquitin linkages by ~50%, while the abundance of other chain types was not markedly

affected (Fig. 2a). Using the di-Gly approach 20,21, we quantified over 3,000 ubiquitylation

sites, of which less than 1% showed a >2-fold decrease in Ubc13 knockout cells (Extended

Data Fig. 3a-d; Supplementary Table 1). Thus, Ubc13 has little impact on the conjugation of

the initial ubiquitin moiety to substrates, consistent with previous reports that Ubc13

primarily acts at the ubiquitin chain elongation step 22-24. To identify Ubc13-dependent K63-

ubiquitylated proteins, we analyzed K63-Super-UIM pull-downs from WT and Ubc13

knockout cells under stringent buffer conditions by mass spectrometry. We identified 371

proteins that showed >2-fold enrichment in WT cells, several of which are known targets of

K63 ubiquitylation (Extended Data Fig. 3e-h and 4a,b; Supplementary Table 2).

We extended this proteomic strategy to search for the chromatin-bound substrate(s), whose

K63 ubiquitylation by RNF8-Ubc13 promotes recruitment of RNF168 and downstream

factors to DSB sites (Extended Data Fig. 4c). Surprisingly, only few cellular proteins

reproducibly displayed elevated K63-linked ubiquitylation upon IR-induced DSBs, and H1

linker histones but not core histones were major chromatin-associated factors showing such

behaviour (Extended Data Fig. 4d). Using the K63-Super-UIM we confirmed biochemically

for two endogenous histone H1 isoforms (H1.2 and H1x) that they were modified with K63-

linked ubiquitin chains and, more importantly, that these ubiquitylations were markedly

upregulated after DSBs (Fig. 2b; Extended Data Fig. 5a,b). Basal levels of H1 K63

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polyubiquitylation in non-irradiated cells dropped substantially upon serum starvation

(Extended Data Fig. 5a), suggesting that they result mostly from endogenous DNA damage

generated by cell cycle-dependent processes. Little if any K63-linked ubiquitylation of core

histones was detectable, regardless of whether DSBs had been inflicted or not (Extended Data

Fig. 5c), thus H1 appears unique among histones in undergoing robust DSB-stimulated K63

ubiquitylation. Importantly, the DNA damage-induced increase in K63-linked

polyubiquitylation of H1 was dependent on RNF8 and Ubc13 but not RNF168 (Fig. 2c,d),

whereas none of these enzymes appreciably affected H1 monoubiquitylation (Extended Data

Fig. 5d). Moreover, mass spectrometry analysis showed that H1 was a major factor co-

purifying with endogenous RNF8 (Extended Data Fig. 5e). Finally, recombinant RNF8

catalyzed robust ubiquitylation of nucleosome-associated H1 with Ubc13 in vitro (Fig. 2e).

These data suggest that histone H1 is a major chromatin-associated substrate of RNF8-Ubc13.

To address whether linker histones represent critical RNF8 substrates in DSB signaling, we

downregulated overall H1 levels using an siRNA cocktail targeting different isoforms

(Extended Data Fig. 6a,b). Under these conditions, accumulation of K63-linked ubiquitin

chains, RNF168, 53BP1 and BRCA1, but not MDC1, at DSB sites was clearly diminished

(Fig. 3a-d; Extended Data Fig. 6c-g), suggesting that loss of H1 uncouples ubiquitin-

dependent DSB signaling at the level of RNF168 accrual. Consistently, like RNF8 or RNF168

knockdown, H1 downregulation suppressed DSB-induced H2A ubiquitylation catalyzed by

RNF168 8,10 (Fig. 3e; Extended Data Fig. 6h). As an alternative strategy to interfere with H1

functionality, we overexpressed the high mobility group protein HMGB1 that competes with

H1 for chromatin binding in a non-site-specific manner 25. Elevated HMGB1 levels impaired

K63 ubiquitylation and 53BP1 accumulation at DSB sites despite enhancing γ-H2AX

formation, and this could be rescued by co-overexpression of H1 or by WT but not

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catalytically inactive RNF168 (Fig. 3f,g; Extended Data Fig. 7a-c). A similar strong increase

in γ-H2AX formation accompanied by only mildly elevated 53BP1 accumulation at DSBs,

indicating a partial uncoupling of these events, was reported for murine cells lacking 3 of 6

H1 isoforms 26. Together, these data suggest that H1-type histones are functionally critical

targets of RNF8- and Ubc13-dependent K63 ubiquitylation at DSB-flanking chromatin areas.

We asked whether K63-ubiquitylated H1 provides a platform for initial, RNF8-Ubc13-

dependent RNF168 recruitment to DSBs. RNF168 contains two DSB-targeting modules, both

of which contain ubiquitin-binding domains 4,5,27 (Fig. 4a). While the C-terminal LRM2-

MIU2 region, which we termed Ubiquitin-dependent DSB recruitment Module 2 (UDM2),

recognizes RNF168-catalyzed forms of ubiquitylated H2A, thereby effectively enabling

RNF168 to autonomously propagate H2A ubiquitylation at DSB sites once recruited, its

LRM1-UMI-MIU1 region (UDM1) has been suggested to bind as-yet undefined RNF8-

generated ubiquitylation products required for initial relocalization of RNF168 to break sites

(Fig. 4a) 11. Therefore, if K63-ubiquitylated H1 functions as a recruitment platform for

RNF168 at DSB-modified chromatin, the UDM1 module should be capable of recognizing

this modified form of H1. Consistent with this idea, we found that UDM1 bound to K63-

linked ubiquitin but no other chain types (Fig. 4b). RNF168 UDM2 also interacted with K63

linkages, albeit with much lower affinity, and unlike UDM1 it also recognized other ubiquitin

chains (Extended Data Fig. 8a,b), This likely reflects that UDM1, but not UDM2, has two

adjacent ubiquitin-binding domains (UMI and MIU1), which together may confer specific

binding to K63-linked chains. We also found that UDM1 interacted with histone H1 but not

H2A in vitro, whereas UDM2 displayed the inverse preference, binding only to H2A, as

previously shown 11 (Fig. 4c). The LRM1 part of UDM1 has been hypothesized to impart

target specificity to the ubiquitin-binding affinity of this module 11. Consistently, the H1-

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binding ability of UDM1 was at least partially mediated by the LRM1 motif (Fig. 4a), which

interacted strongly with H1 in vitro, unlike LRM2 (Extended Data Fig. 8c). However,

additional sequence elements within UDM1 were also able to bind H1 (data not shown),

possibly due to the very acidic nature of the UDM1 region (Extended Data Fig. 8d), which

could facilitate robust interaction with the highly basic H1 proteins 28. Unlike UDM1, UDM2

interacted with neither modified nor unmodified forms of H1 (Fig. 4c,d). When expressed in

cells, the UDM1 domain efficiently bound to high molecular weight forms of endogenous H1

isoforms in an IR-stimulated manner, suggesting that they correspond to K63-ubiquitylated

H1 (Fig. 4d; Extended Data Fig. 8e). Supporting this, point mutations in the UMI or MIU1

domains that impair their ubiquitin-binding activity and RNF168 recruitment to DSBs 11,27

markedly reduced the binding of UDM1 to modified H1 (Extended Data Fig. 8f). Moreover,

UDM1 did not interact with ubiquitylated forms of core histones, in sharp contrast to its

binding to ubiquitylated H1 (Extended Data Fig. 9a). Finally, in-frame deletion of UDM1 but

not UDM2 impaired the ability of ectopically expressed RNF168 to promote IR-induced

53BP1 foci in cells lacking endogenous RNF168 (Fig. 4e). We conclude that the RNF168

UDM1 is a high-affinity recognition module for K63-ubiquitylated histone H1. While the

isolated UDM1 domain was distributed pan-cellularly and interacted with a range of proteins

when overexpressed in cells, the only such protein showing DSB-stimulated K63

polyubiquitylation was an H1 isoform (Extended Data Fig. 9b,c), further suggesting that

ubiquitylated H1 is a major receptor for RNF168 at DSB-modified chromatin.

Collectively, our findings suggest an integrated model for how RNF8 and Ubc13 promote

ubiquitin-dependent protein recruitment to DSB sites. We propose that H1-type linker

histones represent key chromatin-associated RNF8 substrates whose Ubc13-dependent K63-

linked ubiquitylation at DSB-containing chromatin provide an initial binding platform for

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RNF168 via the UDM1 (Fig. 4f). RNF168 then ubiquitylates H2A at K13/K15 and possibly

other proteins to trigger recruitment of DSB repair factors. The notable absence of K63-linked

ubiquitin chains on H2A suggests that RNF168 does not efficiently modify H2A in

conjunction with Ubc13, but may instead catalyze formation of other ubiquitin chains or

monoubiquitylation of the H2A K13/K15 mark. Indeed, RNF168 was recently shown to

catalyze the formation of K27-linked ubiquitin chains, at least when overexpressed 29. It is

possible, however, that RNF168 cooperates with Ubc13 in K63-linked ubiquitylation of other

factors at damaged chromatin. While we observed no significant DSB-induced change in

overall nuclear H1 mobility and no overt enrichment or depletion of H1 isoforms at DSB

sites, the K63-ubiquitylated forms of H1 proteins were more loosely associated with

chromatin than their unmodified counterparts (Extended Data Fig. 10a,b; data not shown).

This suggests that in addition to triggering RNF168 recruitment, the DSB-associated K63

ubiquitylation of H1 may play a role in facilitating chromatin remodeling to allow efficient

repair.

H1-type histones consist of almost 30% lysine residues 28, and proteomic studies have shown

that many of these can be ubiquitylated 20,21,30. Because Ubc13 only generates few de novo

ubiquitylation marks, it is conceivable that RNF8-Ubc13 mainly extends pre-existing H1

ubiquitylations in response to DNA damage, rendering identification of the key H1 sites

targeted by RNF8-Ubc13-dependent K63 ubiquitylation challenging. Although numerous

PTMs have been mapped on different H1 isoforms 28, these marks have not so far been

connected directly to the 'histone code' specifying protein recruitment to different chromatin

states 12,13. In addition to providing the first insights into the functional role of H1

ubiquitylation, our findings also show that linker histones can indeed form part of a dynamic

histone code for DNA repair, wherein RNF8 and RNF168 function as writer and reader,

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respectively, of K63-ubiquitylated H1. The multitude of site-specific H1 PTMs raises the

possibility that some of these marks may play an integral role in the histone code, an area of

study warranting further investigation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Drs. Daniel Durocher and Marco Bianchi for providing reagents and Jiri Lukas for

helpful discussions. This work was supported by grants from the Novo Nordisk Foundation

(Grants no. NNF14CC0001 and NNF12OC0002114), European Research Council (ERC),

NWO-CW, The Danish Cancer Society, and The Danish Council for Independent Research.

Author contributions

T.T. initiated the project, designed and performed cell biological and biochemical

experiments, and analyzed data; A.R. and S.H. performed cell biological and biochemical

experiments and analyzed data; T.W. generated Ubc13 knockout cells, designed and

performed mass spectrometry experiments and analyzed the data; M.U. performed in vitro

ubiquitylation assays with purified nucleosomes; B.V. helped T.T. with biochemical

experiments; T.N. analyzed mass spectrometry data; T.K.S. supervised M.U.; C.C. supervised

T.W. and T.N., designed mass spectrometry experiments and analyzed the data; S.B-J.

performed and designed experiments and analyzed data; N.M. conceived and supervised the

project, designed experiments, analyzed data and wrote the manuscript with input from the

other authors.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Figure legends

Figure 1.

RNF8 but not RNF168 is a primary mediator of Ubc13-dependent protein recruitment

to DSB-flanking chromatin

a. Immunoblot analysis of HCT116 wild type (WT) and Ubc13 knockout (KO) cells. MCM6

was a loading control. b-d. Representative images of HCT116 WT and Ubc13 KO cells

exposed to IR or laser microirradiation (n=3 experiments). Cells in (d) were transfected with

indicated expression constructs (Extended Data Fig. 1c). e,f. Binding of recombinant wild-

type (WT) and mutant (MUT) K63-Super-UIM to di-ubiquitin (Ub2) linkages. The migration

of molecular weight markers (kDa) is indicated on the left. g. Quantification of GFP-K63-

Super-UIM and 53BP1 accumulation at DSBs in U2OS/GFP-K63-Super-UIM cells

transfected with indicated siRNAs. Data are mean ± s.d. from three independent experiments.

Representative images are shown in Extended Data Fig. 2b. Scale bars, 10 µm. WCE, Whole

cell extract. a,g. Uncropped blots are shown in Supplementary Fig. 1.

Figure 2.

H1-type linker histones are major chromatin-bound targets of RNF8-Ubc13-dependent

K63 ubiquitylation

a. Tukey boxplot showing levels of ubiquitin linkages in HCT116 Ubc13 knockout cells

relative to WT cells, quantified by SILAC-based proteomics. Data from two independent

experiments are shown. **, p < 0.01; N.S., not significant (Welch’s t-test). b-d. Pull-down

analysis of IR-induced K63-linked ubiquitylation of histone H1.2 in U2OS cells (b,d) or

derivative cell lines expressing RNF8 or RNF168 shRNAs in a Doxycycline (DOX)-inducible

manner (c) using recombinant WT or mutant (MUT) K63-Super-UIM. Where indicated,

ubiquitin conjugates were digested with recombinant USP2 catalytic domain (USP2cc) prior

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to SDS-PAGE. e. In vitro ubiquitylation of purified H1-containing oligonucleosomes by

RNF8351-485 and indicated factors. WCE, Whole cell extract. The migration of molecular

weight markers (kDa) is indicated on the left. b-e: Uncropped blots are shown in

Supplementary Fig. 1.

Figure 3.

Histone H1 is required for K63-linked ubiquitylation and RNF168-dependent protein

retention at DSB sites

a,b. Representative images of GFP-K63-Super-UIM-expressing cells transfected with

siRNAs. c. Proportion of cells with visible accumulation of GFP-K63-Super-UIM at laser-

induced DSBs (a). d. Intensity of GFP-K63-Super-UIM or 53BP1 accumulation at laser-

induced DSBs normalized to γ-H2AX signal (a). e. Analysis of IR-induced γ-H2AX

ubiquitylation (Ub) by RNF168 (marked by arrow) in chromatin fractions of U2OS cells

transfected with indicated siRNAs. f. Representative images of U2OS cells expressing

indicated constructs and exposed to IR. HMGB1 overexpression impairs 53BP1 recruitment

to DSBs (marked by arrows). g. Quantification of data in (f). Data in c and d are mean ± s.d.

from three independent experiments. Data in g are mean ± s.e.m. from two independent

experiments. Scale bars, 10 µm. e: Uncropped blots are shown in Supplementary Fig. 1.

Figure 4.

The RNF168 UDM1 domain is a high-affinity reader of K63-ubiquitylated H1

a. Composition and reported functions of ubiquitin-dependent DSB recruitment modules

(UDMs) in human RNF168. b. Binding of recombinant UDM1 to di-ubiquitin (Ub2) linkages.

c. Binding of recombinant UDM1 and UDM2 to purified histones (H1.0 and H2A).

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d. Pull-down assays of Strep-tagged UDM1 and UDM2 modules expressed in U2OS cells.

The migration of molecular weight markers (kDa) is indicated on the left. e. Representative

images of shRNF168-expressing cells transfected with GFP-RNF168 constructs and exposed

to IR (n=2 experiments). Deletion of UDM1 (ΔUDM1) impairs restoration of 53BP1 foci by

GFP-RNF168 (indicated by arrows). Scale bar, 10 µm. f. Model of RNF8-Ubc13 function in

ubiquitin-dependent signaling after DSBs. WCE, Whole cell extract. b-d: Uncropped blots

are shown in Supplementary Fig. 1.

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Methods

Plasmids

cDNAs encoding K63-Super-UIM (WT and mutant) and the Vps27-based K63 binder 18

containing C-terminal His6 tags were produced as synthetic genes (Eurofins) and inserted into

pDONRTM221 by BP reactions (Invitrogen). By means of LR reactions (Invitrogen) the

inserts were then transferred to the Champion™ pET104 BioEase™ Gateway® Biotinylation

System (Invitrogen) for recombinant protein production or pcDNA-DEST53 (Invitrogen) for

GFP-tagged constitutive mammalian expression. For inducible expression of GFP-tagged

K63-Super-UIM, the GFP-K63-Super-UIM cDNA was inserted into pcDNA4/TO

(Invitrogen). Plasmids encoding HA-tagged WT and catalytically inactive (CI) RNF8

(C403S), WT and CI (C16S/C19S) forms of RNF168, and Ubc13, as well as chimeras

between RNF8 and different E2 enzymes were described previously 1,4,16. The *FHA

mutation (R42A) in HA-RNF8ΔR-Ubc13 was generated by site-directed mutagenesis. RNF8

constructs were made resistant to RNF8-siRNA by introducing 3 silent mutations (underlined)

in the siRNA targeting sequence (5’-TGCGGAGTATGAGTACGAG-3’) in the plasmids by

site-directed mutagenesis. The RNF168 UDM1 (amino acids 110-201) and UDM2 (amino

acids 419-487) fragments were amplified by PCR and inserted into either pTriExTM-5

(Novagen) for Strep- and His-tagged expression in E. coli and mammalian cells, or pEGFP-

C1 (Clontech) for expression of GFP-tagged versions. The Strep-RNF168 UDM1 mutants

used in this study (*UMI (L149A) and *MIU1 (A179G)) were generated using the

QuikChange site-directed mutagenesis kit (Stratagene). Constructs encoding GFP-H1

isoforms were cloned by inserting the respective cDNAs into the BglII and BamHI sites of

pEGFP-C1 (Clontech). A plasmid encoding HMGB1-GFP was kindly provided by Dr. Marco

Bianchi (San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy). A FLAG-HMGB1 expression construct was

generated by inserting the HMGB1 ORF into pFLAG-CMV2 (Sigma). All constructs were

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verified by sequencing. Plasmid transfections were done with FuGene 6 (Promega) or

Genejuice (Novagene), siRNA transfections were done with Lipofectamine RNAiMAX

(Invitrogen), according to the manufacturers' instructions.

siRNA

siRNA sequences used in this study were:

Non-targeting control (CTRL) (5’-GGGAUACCUAGACGUUCUATT-3’); Ubc13 (5’-

GAGCAUGGACUAGGCUAUATT-3’); RNF8 (5’-UGCGGAGUAUGAAUAUGAATT-3’);

RNF168 (5’-GUGGAACUGUGGACGAUAATT-3’) or (5’-

GGCGAAGAGCGAUGGAAGATT-3’); Histone H1(#1) (5’-

GCUACGACGUGGAGAAGAATT-3’); H1(#2) (5’-GCUCCUUUAAACUCAACAATT-

3’); H1(#3) (5’-GAAGCCAAGCCCAAGGUUATT-3’);

H1(#4) (5’-CCUUUAAACUCAACAAGAATT-3’); H1(#5) (5’-

CCUUCAAACUCAACAAGAATT-3’); H1(#6) (5’-UCAAGAGCCUGGUGAGCAATT-

3’); H1(#7) (5’-GGACCAAGAAAGUGGCCAATT-3’); H1(#8) (5’-

GCAUCAAGCUGGGUCUCAATT-3’); H1(#9) (5’-CAGUGAAACCCAAAGCAAATT-

3’); H1(#10) (specific for H1x) (5’-CCUUCAAGCUCAACCGCAATT-3’); 53BP1 (5’-

GAACGAGGAGACGGUAAUATT-3’); USP7 (5’-GGCGAAGUUUUAAAUGUAUTT-3’);

and USP9x (5’-GCAGUGAGUGGCUGGAAGUTT-3’).

Cell culture

Human U2OS, HCT116 and RPE1 cells were obtained from ATCC. U2OS and HCT116 were

cultured in DMEM containing 10% FBS and 1xPen-Strep, while RPE1 cells were grown in a

1:1 mixture of Ham’s F12 and DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS and 1xPen-Strep.

Serum-starvation of RPE1 cells was done by incubating cells for 24 h in medium

supplemented with 0.25% FBS. A HCT116 Ubc13 knockout cell line was generated using the

CRISPR/Cas9 technology 14,15. A donor plasmid bearing a splice acceptor site and a

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puromycin resistance marker, flanked by homology arms, was co-transfected with pX300 14

targeting the GGCGCGCGGGAATCGCGGCG sequence within the first intron of the Ubc13

gene. To generate cell lines capable of Doxycycline-induced expression of GFP-tagged K63-

Super-UIM, U2OS cells were transfected with GFP-K63-Super-UIM plasmid and

pcDNA6/TR and positive clones were selected with Zeocin (Invitrogen) and Blasticidin S

(Invitrogen). Stable U2OS cell lines expressing RNF8 or RNF168 shRNA in a doxycycline-

inducible manner or Strep-HA-ubiquitin were described previously 1,4,31. All cell lines were

regularly tested for mycoplasma infection. Unless otherwise indicated, cells were exposed to

DSBs using IR (4 Gy for microscopy experiments and 10 Gy for biochemical analyses) or

laser microirradiation (as described in 32), and collected 1 h later.

Recombinant protein production

Purified biotinylated K63-Super-UIM WT and mutant proteins containing an N-terminal,

biotinylated BioEase tag and a C-terminal His6-tag were obtained by expressing the proteins

in an E.coli strain expressing the BirA biotin ligase. Bacteria were grown in LB medium

containing 0.5 mM biotin, induced with 0.25 mM IPTG for 3 h at 30 °C, and then lysed by

French press. The K63-Super-UIM constructs were purified using IMAC followed by SEC.

Purity and complete biotinylation of the proteins was verified by MS. Recombinant Strep-

His6-RNF168 UDM-1/2 was produced in Rosetta2(DE3)pLacI (Novagen) bacteria induced

with 0.5 mM IPTG for 3 h at 30 °C, lysed using Bugbuster (Novagen) supplemented with

Protease Inhibitor Cocktail without EDTA (Roche). The proteins were purified on Ni2+-NTA-

agarose (Qiagen). Recombinant hUba1, UbcH5c, RNF8 and ubiquitin used for in vitro

ubiquitylation assays were purified as described 8.

Antibodies

Antibodies used in this study included: Ubc13 (#4919, Cell Signaling), MCM6 (sc-9843,

Santa Cruz), 53BP1 (sc-22760, Santa Cruz), γ-H2A.X (05-636, Millipore) or (2577, Cell

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Signaling), H2A.X (2595, Cell Signaling), MDC1 (ab11171, Abcam), Conjugated ubiquitin

(FK2) (BML-PW8810-0500, Enzo Life Sciences), HA (11867423991, Roche; and sc-7392,

Santa Cruz), Myc (sc-40, Santa Cruz), His6 (631212, Clontech), GFP (sc-9996, Santa Cruz;

11814460001, Roche), Ubiquitin (sc-8017, Santa Cruz), Histone H1.2 (ab17677, Abcam),

Histone 1x (A304-604A, Bethyl Labs), Histone H1 (pan, #AE-4 clone) (ab7789, Abcam),

Histone H2A (07-146, Millipore), Histone H2B (ab1790, Abcam), Histone H3 (ab1791,

Abcam), Histone H4 (ab7311, Abcam), USP7 (A300-033A, Bethyl Labs), USP9x (A301-

351A, Bethyl Labs), Cyclin A (sc-751, Santa Cruz), Actin (MAB1501, Millipore), BRCA1

(sc-6954, Santa Cruz), RNF168 for IF (06-1130, Millipore) and antibody to RNF168 5 used

for WB was a kind gift from Dr. Daniel Durocher (University of Toronto, Canada). Antibody

to RNF8 has been described previously 1.

Immunochemical methods

For pull-down of K63-ubiquitylated proteins, cells were lysed in high-stringency buffer (50

mM Tris, pH 7.5; 500 mM NaCl; 5 mM EDTA; 1% NP40; 1 mM DTT, 0.1% SDS)

containing 1.25 mg/mL N-Ethylmaleimide, 50 µM DUB inhibitor PR619 (LifeSensors), and

protease inhibitor cocktail (Roche). Recombinant biotionylated K63-Super-UIM (25 µg/ml)

was added immediately upon lysis, followed by sonication and centrifugation. Streptavidin

M-280 Dynabeads (Invitrogen) was added to immobilize the K63-Super-UIM, and bound

material was washed extensively in high-stringency buffer. A Benzonase (Sigma) and MNase

(NEB) treatment step was included to remove any contaminating nucleotides. Proteins were

resolved by SDS-PAGE and analyzed by immunoblotting. Where indicated, bound complexes

were subjected to deubiquitylation by incubation with USP2cc (1 µM, Boston Biochem) in

DUB buffer (50 mM HEPES, pH 7.5; 100 mM NaCl; 1 mM MnCl2; 0.01% Brij-35; 2 mM

DTT) overnight at 30 ºC before boiling in Laemmli Sample Buffer. Immunoblotting, Strep-

Tactin pull-downs, and chromatin enrichment were done essentially as described 32. Briefly,

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Strep-RNF168 UDM pull down experiments from cells were performed after lysing cells in

EBC buffer (50 mM Tris, pH 7.4; 150 mM NaCl; 0.5% NP-40; 1 mM EDTA) containing 1.25

mg/mL NEM, 50 µM PR619 (LifeSensors) and protease inhibitor cocktail (Roche). The

soluble fraction was subsequently used for immunoprecipitation using Strep-Tactin sepharose

(IBA). After washing in EBC buffer, proteins were eluted and analyzed by immunoblotting.

To isolate Strep-HA-ubiquitin conjugated proteins, cells were lysed in denaturing buffer (20

mM Tris, pH 7.5; 50 mM NaCl; 1 mM EDTA; 1 mM DTT; 0.5% NP-40; 0.5% sodium

deoxycholate; 0.5% SDS) containing 1.25 mg/mL NEM, 50 µM PR619 (LifeSensors) and

protease inhibitor cocktail (Roche). After sonication and centrifugation, Strep-HA-ubiquitin-

conjugated proteins were immobilized on Strep-Tactin sepharose (IBA). After extensive

washing in denaturing buffer, proteins were eluted and analyzed by immunoblotting. For

chromation fractionation, cells were first lysed in Buffer 1 (100 mM NaCl; 300 mM sucrose;

3 mM MgCl2; 10 mM PIPES, pH 6.8; 1 mM EGTA; 0.2% Triton X-100) containing protease,

phosphatase and DUB inhibitors and incubated on ice for 5 min. After centrifugation, the

soluble proteins were removed and the pellet was resuspended in Buffer 2 (50 mM Tris-HCl,

pH 7.5; 150 mM NaCl; 5 mM EDTA; 1% Triton X-100; 0.1% SDS) containing protease,

phosphatase and DUB inhibitors. Lysates were then incubated 10 min on ice, sonicated, and

solubilized chromatin-enriched fractions were collected after centrifugation.

Immunofluorescence staining and microscopy

For immunofluorescence staining, cells were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde for 15 min,

permeabilized with PBS containing 0.2% Triton X-100 for 5 min, and incubated with primary

antibodies diluted in DMEM for 1 h at room temperature. Following staining with secondary

antibodies (Alexa Fluor; Life Technologies) for 1 h, coverslips were mounted in Vectashield

mounting medium (Vector Laboratories) containing nuclear stain DAPI. Images of GFP-K63-

Super-UIM were all obtained from our stable inducible cell line where GFP-K63-Super-UIM

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was induced by incubating with 1 µg/mL Doxycycline for approximately 24 h unless

otherwise stated. Images were acquired with an LSM 780 confocal microscope (Carl Zeiss

Microimaging Inc.) mounted on Zeiss-Axiovert 100M equipped with Plan-Apochromat

40x/1.3 oil immersion objective, using standard settings. Image acquisition and analysis was

carried out with ZEN2010 software. For ImageJ-based image analysis, images were acquired

with an AF6000 widefield microscope (Leica Microsystems) equipped with a Plan-

Apochromat 40x/0.85 CORR objective, using the same microscopic settings. Fluorescence

intensities of the micro-irradiated region (demarcated by γ-H2AX positivity) and the nucleus

were first corrected for the general image background. Using these values, relative

recruitment to DNA damage sites (relative fluorescence units, RFU) was calculated by

normalizing the nuclear background-corrected signal at the micro-irradiated region to that of

the nuclear background. Finally, the RFU of the protein of interest was normalized to the

RFU of the γH2AX signal and plotted as the average of biological triplicates. Fluorescense

Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP) was performed essentially as described 33. Briefly,

U2OS cells stably expressing GFP-H1 were grown in glass-bottom dishes (LabTek) in the

presence of CO2-independent medium. A 2-µm wide rectangular strip spanning the entire

width of the cell was bleached by excitation with the maximal intensity of a 488 nm laser line,

after which 95 frames of the bleached region were acquired at 4 s intervals. Mean

fluorescence intensites were processed, normalized and analyzed as described 33.

In vitro binding and ubiquitylation assays

Binding of K63-Super-UIM to di-ubiquitin (Ub2) linkages (Boston Biochem) was done by

incubating 100 ng Ub2 with 2.5 µg K63-Super-UIM immobilized on Streptavidin M-280

Dynabeads (Invitrogen) in Buffer A (50 mM Tris, pH 7.5; 10% glycerol; 400 mM NaCl;

0.5% NP40; 2 mM DTT; 0.1 mg/mL BSA). After extensive washing, bound complexes were

resolved by SDS-PAGE and analyzed by immunoblotting. Binding of RNF168 UDM1/2 to

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di-ubiquitin (Ub2) linkages was analyzed by incubating 100 ng Ub2 with 5 µg Strep-RNF168-

UDM1/2 immobilized on Strep-Tactin sepharose (IBA BioTAGnology) in Buffer B (50 mM

Tris, pH 8; 5% glycerol; 0.5% NP40; 2 mM DTT; 0.1 mg/mL BSA; 2 mM MgCl2, added 250

mM KCl for UDM1 binding and 100 mM KCl for UDM2 binding). After extensive washing,

bound complexes were resolved by SDS-PAGE and analyzed by immunoblotting. Where

indicated, UDM1/2 binding to K63-linked Ub2 was analyzed in the presence of increasing

KCl concentrations (75 mM, 150 mM, and 250 mM). To analyze binding of RNF168

UDM1/2 to recombinant histones, purified Strep-RNF168 UDM1/2 (10 µg) was pre-bound to

Strep-Tactin sepharose in buffer C (for binding to H1.0) (50 mM, Tris pH 8; 5% glycerol; 150

mM KCl; 0.5% NP40; 2 mM DTT; 0.1 mg/mL BSA) or D (for binding to H2A) (50 mM, Tris

pH 8; 5% glycerol; 75 mM KCl; 0.05% NP40; 2 mM DTT; 0.1 mg/mL BSA), and incubated

with 500 ng recombinant histone H1.0 or H2A (New England Biolabs). Bound complexes

were washed and analyzed by immunoblotting. To analyze binding of LRM1 and LRM2

peptides to histone H1.0 or H2A, magnetic Streptavidin beads were incubated with buffer E

(25 mM, Tris pH 8.5; 5% glycerol; 50 mM KCl; 0.5% TX-100; 1 mM DTT; 0.1 mg/mL BSA)

in the absence (control) or presence of 1.5 µg purified, biotinylated RNF168 LRM1 (amino

acids 110-133) or LRM2 (amino acids 463-485) peptide. Samples were then incubated with

250 ng recombinant H2A or H1.0 for 2 h at 4 °C, and immobilized complexes were washed

and analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Colloidal Blue staining (Invitrogen).

For in vitro ubiquitylation assays, histone H1-containing oligonucleosomes (10 µM) were

purified in the presence of 55 mM Iodoacetamide, essentially as described previously 34, with

the exception that micrococcal nuclease digestion was stopped with 20 mM EGTA and

dialysis was started right after the second homogenization in buffer containing 50 mM Tris,

pH 7.5; 150 mM NaCl; 1 mM TCEP; and 340 mM Sucrose. Dialyzed samples were then

incubated with DUB inhibitor (Ubiquitin-PA 35, 20 µM) for 20 min at room temperature.

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Nuclesomes were incubated with 0.5 µM hUba1, 5 µM UbcH5c, 1 µM Ubc13-Mms2

complex, 5 µM RNF8351-485 fragment (purified as described in 8) and 75 µM ubiquitin in

reaction buffer (50 mM Tris, pH 7.5; 100 mM NaCl; 3 mM ATP; 3 mM MgCl; 1 mM TCEP)

at 31 ºC. Samples were analyzed by immunoblot analysis.

SILAC based quantification of di-glycine containing peptides

For SILAC experiments, U2OS or HCT116 cells were grown in medium containing unlabeled

L-arginine and L-lysine (Arg0/Lys0) as the light condition, or isotope labeled variants of L-

arginine and L-lysine (Arg6/Lys4 or Arg10/Lys8) as the heavy condition 36. SILAC labeled

HCT116 wildtype and Ubc13 knockout cells were lysed in modified RIPA buffer (50 mM

Tris-HCl, pH 7.5; 150 mM NaCl; 1% Nonidet P-40; 0.1% sodium-deoxycholate; 1 mM

EDTA) supplemented with protease inhibitors (Complete protease inhibitor mixture tablets,

Roche Diagnostics) and N-ethylmaleimide (5 mM). Lysates were incubated for 10 min on ice

and cleared by centrifugation at 16,000 × g. An equal amount of protein from the two SILAC

states was mixed and precipitated by adding 5-fold acetone and incubating at -20 °C

overnight. Precipitated proteins were dissolved in denaturing buffer (6 M urea; 2 M thiourea;

10 mM HEPES, pH 8.0), reduced with DTT (1 mM) and alkylated with chloroacetamide (5.5

mM). Proteins were digested with Lysyl endoproteinase C (Lys-C) for 6 h, diluted four-fold

with water and digested overnight with trypsin. The digestion was stopped by addition of

trifluoroacetic acid (0.5% final concentration), incubated at 4 °C for 2 h and centrifuged for

15 min at 4000×g. Peptides from the cleared solution were purified by reversed-phase Sep-

Pak C18 cartridges (Waters Corporation). Di-glycine-lysine modified peptides were enriched

using the Ubiquitin Remnant Motif Kit (Cell Signaling Technology), according to the

manufacturer´s intructions. Briefly, Peptides were eluted from the Sep-Pak C18 cartridges

with 50% acetonitrile, which was subsequently removed by centrifugal evaporation. Peptides

were incubated with 40 µl of anti-di-Gly-lysine antibody resin in immunoaffinity purification

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(IAP) buffer for 4 h at 4 °C. Beads were washed three times with IAP buffer, two times with

water and peptides eluted with 0.15% trifluoroacetic acid. Eluted peptides were fractionated

by microcolumn-based strong cation exchange chromatography (SCX) and cleaned by

reversed phase C18 stage-tips.

SILAC K63-Super-UIM pull-down and in-gel digestion

SILAC labeled cells were lysed in high-stringency RIPA buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5;

500 mM NaCl; 1% Nonidet P-40; 0.1% sodium-deoxycholate; 1 mM EDTA) containing 1.25

mg/mL N-Ethylmaleimide, 50 µM DUB inhibitor PR619 (LifeSensors), and protease inhibitor

cocktail (Roche). Lysates from different SILAC states were separately incubated for 10 min

on ice and cleared by centrifugation at 16,000×g. Extract (5 mg) were incubated for 4 h at 4

°C with K63-Super-UIM immobilized to streptavidin beads (approximately 5 µg K63-Super-

UIM per experiment). Beads were washed three times with high-stringency RIPA, beads from

the different SILAC conditions were mixed, and proteins were eluted with SDS sample

buffer, incubated with DTT (10 mM) for 10 min at 70 °C and alkylated with chloroacetamide

(5.5 mM) for 60 min at 25 °C. Proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE using a 4%-12%

gradient gel and visualized with colloidal blue stain. Gel lanes were sliced into six pieces, and

proteins were digested in-gel using standard methods 37.

Mass spectrometry and data analysis

Peptides were analyzed on a quadrupole Orbitrap (Q Exactive, Thermo Scientific) mass

spectrometer equipped with a nanoflow HPLC system (Thermo Scientific). Peptide samples

were loaded onto C18 reversed-phase columns and eluted with a linear gradient (1-2 h for in-

gel samples, and 3-4 h for di-glycine-lysine enriched samples) from 8 to 40% acetonitrile

containing 0.5% acetic acid. The mass spectrometer was operated in a data-dependent mode

automatically switching between MS and MS/MS. Survey full scan MS spectra (m/z 300–

1200) were acquired in the Orbitrap mass analyzer. The 10 most intense ions were

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sequentially isolated and fragmented by higher-energy C-trap dissociation (HCD). Peptides

with unassigned charge states, as well as peptides with charge state less than +2 for in-gel

samples and +3 for di-glycine-lysine enriched samples were excluded from fragmentation.

Fragment spectra were acquired in the Orbitrap mass analyzer. Raw MS data were analyzed

using MaxQuant software (version 1.3.9.21). Parent ion and tandem mass spectra were

searched against protein sequences from the UniProt knowledge database using the

Andromeda search engine. Spectra were searched with a mass tolerance of 6 ppm in the MS

mode, 20 ppm for MS/MS mode, strict trypsin specificity and allowing up to two missed

cleavage sites. Cysteine carbamidomethylation was searched as a fixed modification, whereas

amino-terminal protein acetylation, methionine oxidation and N-ethylmaleimide modification

of cysteines, and di-glycine-lysine were searched as variable modifications. Di-glycine-

lysines were required to be located internally in the peptide sequence. Site localization

probabilities were determined using MaxQuant (PTM scoring algorithm) as described

previously 38. A false discovery rate of less than one percent was achieved using the target-

decoy search strategy 39 and a posterior error probability filter. Information about previously

known protein-protein interactions among putative Ubc13-dependent K63-Super-UIM

interacting proteins was extracted using the HIPPIE database 40 (version 1.6), and interactions

were visualized in Cytoscape 41. The Gene Ontology (GO) term Biological Process analysis

for Ubc13-dependent K63-Super-UIM interacting proteins was filtered for categories

annotated with at least 20 and not more than 300 genes. Redundant GO terms (less than 30%

unique positive scoring genes compared to more significant GO term) were removed and the

five most significant (Fisher’s exact t-test) remaining GO term categories depicted. To

determine the variation within the quantification of ubiquitin linkage types, an F-test was

performed and the p-values were adjusted using the Bonferroni method. A significant

difference in the variances between K48 and K11, and K48 and K6 ubiquitin linkages was

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detected. To test the significance of the difference between the SILAC ratios measured for

ubiquitin linkage types, the Welch Two Sample t-test was performed and the obtained p-

values were adjusted using the Bonferroni method.

31 Danielsen, J. M. et al. Mass spectrometric analysis of lysine ubiquitylation reveals

promiscuity at site level. Mol Cell Proteomics 10, M110 003590, doi:M110.003590 [pii]

10.1074/mcp.M110.003590 (2011). 32 Poulsen, M., Lukas, C., Lukas, J., Bekker-Jensen, S. & Mailand, N. Human RNF169

is a negative regulator of the ubiquitin-dependent response to DNA double-strand breaks. J Cell Biol 197, 189-199, doi:jcb.201109100 [pii]

10.1083/jcb.201109100 (2012). 33 Bekker-Jensen, S., Lukas, C., Melander, F., Bartek, J. & Lukas, J. Dynamic assembly

and sustained retention of 53BP1 at the sites of DNA damage are controlled by Mdc1/NFBD1. J Cell Biol 170, 201-211, doi:jcb.200503043 [pii]

10.1083/jcb.200503043 (2005). 34 Hernandez-Munoz, I. et al. Stable X chromosome inactivation involves the PRC1

Polycomb complex and requires histone MACROH2A1 and the CULLIN3/SPOP ubiquitin E3 ligase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102, 7635-7640, doi:10.1073/pnas.0408918102 (2005).

35 Ekkebus, R. et al. On terminal alkynes that can react with active-site cysteine nucleophiles in proteases. Journal of the American Chemical Society 135, 2867-2870, doi:10.1021/ja309802n (2013).

36 Ong, S. E. et al. Stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture, SILAC, as a simple and accurate approach to expression proteomics. Mol Cell Proteomics 1, 376-386 (2002).

37 Jensen, O. N., Wilm, M., Shevchenko, A. & Mann, M. Sample preparation methods for mass spectrometric peptide mapping directly from 2-DE gels. Methods Mol Biol 112, 513-530 (1999).

38 Cox, J. & Mann, M. MaxQuant enables high peptide identification rates, individualized p.p.b.-range mass accuracies and proteome-wide protein quantification. Nat Biotechnol 26, 1367-1372, doi:nbt.1511 [pii]

10.1038/nbt.1511 (2008). 39 Elias, J. E. & Gygi, S. P. Target-decoy search strategy for increased confidence in

large-scale protein identifications by mass spectrometry. Nat Methods 4, 207-214, doi:10.1038/nmeth1019 (2007).

40 Schaefer, M. H. et al. HIPPIE: Integrating protein interaction networks with experiment based quality scores. PLoS One 7, e31826, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031826 (2012).

41 Cline, M. S. et al. Integration of biological networks and gene expression data using Cytoscape. Nat Protoc 2, 2366-2382, doi:10.1038/nprot.2007.324 (2007).

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Extended Data

Extended Data Figure 1.

Protein recruitment to DSB sites in Ubc13 knockout cells

a,b. Representative images of HCT116 wild-type (WT) or Ubc13 knockout (KO) cells

exposed to IR. Where indicated, cells were transfected with HA-RNF8 plasmid prior to IR

(n=2 experiments). c. Constructs used in Fig. 1d and their ability to restore IR-induced 53BP1

foci in Ubc13 KO cells. d. Representative images of HCT116 Ubc13 KO cells transfected

with non-targeting control (CTRL) or RNF8 siRNAs and subsequently with plasmids

encoding Ubc13 or siRNA-resistant Ubc13-RNF8 fusion constructs (c) (n=2). e.

Representative images of Ubc13 KO cells transfected with plasmids encoding WT or

catalytically inactive (CI) HA-RNF168 (n=2). Expression of HA-RNF168 WT restores IR-

induced 53BP1 foci formation (arrows). All scale bars, 10 µm.

Extended Data Figure 2.

RNF8- and Ubc13-dependent K63-linked ubiquitylation at DSB sites

a-c. Representative images of U2OS cells stably expressing GFP-K63-Super-UIM,

transfected with siRNAs where indicated, and exposed to laser microirradiation or IR (n=3).

d. Representative images of U2OS cells stably expressing GFP- and NLS-tagged Vps27-UIM

(with high affinity for binding to K63-linked ubiquitin 18) transfected with indicated siRNAs

and exposed to laser microirradiation (n=2). e. Loss of RNF8 or Ubc13 has no impact on

53BP1 abundance. Immunoblot analysis of whole cell extracts (WCE) of U2OS cells

transfected with indicated siRNAs. f. RNF8, but not RNF168, is modified by K63-linked

ubiquitin chains. K63-Super-UIM pull-downs from U2OS cells transfected with empty vector

(−), HA-tagged RNF8 (WT or catalytically inactive (CI)) or HA-RNF168 plasmids were

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immunoblotted (IB) with indicated antibodies. All scale bars, 10 µm. e,f: Uncropped blots are

shown in Supplementary Fig. 1.

Extended Data Figure 3.

Experimental replicates of SILAC based quantification of di-glycine containing peptides

and K63-super-UIM pull-downs from WT and Ubc13 KO cells

a. Schematic outline of SILAC-based mass spectrometry approach to quantify di-glycine-

containing peptides in HCT116 WT and Ubc13 knockout (KO) cells. b,c. Proportional Venn

diagrams showing overlap between all identified di-glycine containing peptides (b) and those

with a SILAC ratio (Ubc13 KO/WT cells) < 0.5 (c) in two independent experiments

performed as shown in (a) (Supplementary Table 1). d. Scatter plot showing correlation

between SILAC ratios of di-glycine containing peptides. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient

(R) is indicated. e. Schematic outline of SILAC-based mass spectrometry approach to identify

Ubc13-dependent K63-ubiquitylation targets in unperturbed HCT116 WT and Ubc13 KO

cells. f,g. Proportional Venn diagrams showing overlap between all proteins identified in

K63-Super-UIM pull-downs (f) and those with a SILAC ratio (Ubc13 KO/WT cells) < 0.5 (g)

in two independent experiments performed as shown in (e) (Supplementary Table 2). h.

Scatter plot showing correlation between SILAC ratios of proteins identified in two

experiments. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient (R) is indicated.

Extended Data Figure 4.

Analysis of Ubc13-dependent K63-ubiquitylated proteins in unperturbed cells and in

response to DNA damage

a. K63-linkages from extracts of HCT116 WT and Ubc13 knockout cells were enriched by

K63-Super-UIM pull-down (Supplementary Table 2). Interaction network shows proteins

Page 30: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

29

enriched at least 2-fold in WT cells. Proteins involved in Ubc13-dependent activation of NF-

κB signaling are highligted in red. b. Functional annotation of potential Ubc13-dependent

K63-ubiquitylated proteins (a), showing enriched Gene Ontology (GO) biological process

terms. c. Schematic outline of SILAC-based mass spectrometry approach to identify targets of

K63 ubiquitylation in response to IR-induced DSBs. d. SILAC ratios of selected proteins

from U2OS cells treated as in (c). Data from a representative experiment are shown (n=3).

Extended Data Figure 5.

DSB-induced K63 ubiquitylation of H1-type linker histones

a. Analysis of K63-linked ubiquitylation of histone H1.2 in RPE1 cells growing exponentially

or kept quiescent by serum starvation. b,c. K63-Super-UIM pull-downs from U2OS cells

exposed or not to IR were immunoblotted (IB) with indicated antibodies. d. U2OS or U2OS

stably expressing Strep-HA-Ubiquitin (U2OS/Strep-Ub) were transfected with indicated

siRNAs and exposed or not to IR. Whole cell extracts (WCE) and Strep-ubiquitin-conjugated

proteins immobilized on Strep-Tactin beads under denaturing conditions were analyzed by

immunoblotting. e. Proteins interacting with endogenous RNF8. U2OS cells stably expressing

RNF8 shRNA in a Doxycycline (DOX)-inducible manner 1 was grown in light (L) or heavy

(H) SILAC medium. Cells growing in light medium were induced to express RNF8 shRNA

by treatment with DOX. Both cultures were then exposed to IR and processed for

immunoprecipitation with RNF8 antibody. Bound proteins were analyzed by mass

spectrometry. Proteins displaying the highest H/L SILAC ratios are listed. a-d: The migration

of molecular weight markers (kDa) is indicated on the left. Uncropped blots are shown in

Supplementary Fig. 1.

Extended Data Figure 6.

Page 31: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

30

Knockdown of H1-type histones impairs accumulation of K63-linked ubiquitin

conjugates, RNF168 and BRCA1 at DSB sites

a. Immunoblot analysis of U2OS cells transfected sequentially with plasmids encoding GFP-

tagged histone H1 isoforms (H1.0-H1.5) and indicated siRNAs. Knockdown efficiency of the

siRNAs (#1, #4, #5 and #9) used in the pan-H1 siRNA cocktail to reduce global H1

expression level is highlighted in red boxes. b. Immunoblot analysis of U2OS cells

transfected with H1 siRNA cocktail (a). c-g. Representative images of siRNA-transfected

U2OS/GFP-K63-Super UIM (c) or U2OS cells (d-g) exposed to IR or laser microirradiation

(n=2). h. Analysis of IR-induced γ-H2AX ubiquitylation (Ub) by RNF168 (marked by arrow)

in chromatin fractions of U2OS cells transfected with indicated siRNAs. All scale bars, 10

µm. a,b,h: Uncropped blots are shown in Supplementary Fig. 1.

Extended Data Figure 7.

HMGB1 overexpression impairs the RNF8/RNF168-dependent signaling response at

DSB sites at the level of K63 ubiquitylation and RNF168 recruitment

a,b. Representative images of U2OS cells co-transfected with constructs encoding HMGB1-

GFP and WT or catalytically inactive (CI) HA-RNF168 and exposed to IR (n=3). Arrows

indicate cells expressing HA-RNF168 CI, in which 53BP1 foci formation is not restored. c.

Representative images of U2OS/GFP-K63-Super-UIM cells transfected with FLAG-HMGB1

construct and subjected to laser micro-irradiation (n=3). FLAG-HMGB1-expressing cells

show reduced K63 ubiquitylation at DSB sites (indicated by arrows). All scale bars, 10 µm.

Extended Data Figure 8.

Interaction of RNF168 UDM1 with K63-ubiquitylated H1

Page 32: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

31

a. Immunoblot analysis of immobilized recombinant RNF168 UDM1 or UDM2 incubated

with K63 linked di-ubiquitin (Ub2) in the presence of increasing salt concentrations (75 mM,

150 mM and 250 mM KCl, respectively). b. Binding of immobilized recombinant Strep-

UDM2 or empty Strep-Tactin beads to indicated di-ubiquitin (Ub2) linkages was analyzed by

immunoblotting. c. Biotinylated peptides corresponding to the LRM1 and LRM2 motifs in

human RNF168 were analyzed for binding to recombinant H2A or H1.0 in vitro by

Streptavidin pull-down followed by SDS-PAGE and Colloidal Blue staining. The migration

of molecular weight markers (kDa) is indicated on the left. d. Sequence of the UDM1 region

in human RNF168, showing the location of the LRM1, UMI and MIU1 motifs. Acidic amino

acids are highlighted in red. The sequence corresponding to the LRM1 peptide (c) and

mutations introduced to generate UDM1 *UMI and *MIU1 (f) are indicated. e,f. Pull-down

assays of Strep-tagged UDM1 and UDM2 constructs expressed in U2OS cells. a-c,e,f:

Uncropped blots are shown in Supplementary Fig. 1.

Extended Data Figure 9.

RNF168 UDM1 recognizes ubiquitylated forms of H1 but not core histones

a. Pull-downs of Strep-tagged RNF168 UDM1 expressed in U2OS cells were immunoblotted

(IB) with antibodies to indicated histones. b. Localization pattern of GFP-tagged UDM1

expressed in U2OS cells. Scale bar, 10 µm. c. Venn diagram showing overlap between

proteins displaying increased K63-linked ubiquitylation after IR (SILAC ratio (IR/mock) >

1.5) and proteins showing potential interaction with overexpressed GFP-UDM1 (SILAC ratio

(GFP-UDM1/mock) > 1.5). Only one protein, histone H1x, was common to both of these

subsets of cellular proteins. a: Uncropped blots are shown in Supplementary Fig. 1.

Extended Data Figure 10.

Page 33: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

32

Impact of DSBs on H1 chromatin association

a. FRAP analysis of U2OS cells stably expressing GFP-H1.2 and exposed or not to IR (10

Gy). Individual data points represent mean values from 10 independent measurements

and error bars represent twice the s.d. b. U2OS cells left untreated or exposed to IR were

lysed in EBC buffer. Soluble and resolubilized, EBC-insoluble fractions were incubated with

recombinant K63-Super-UIM and washed thoroughly. Bound material and input fractions

were analyzed by immunoblotting with indicated antibodies. b: Uncropped blots are shown in

Supplementary Fig. 1.

Page 34: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

a c d Thorslund et al, Figure 1

b

e

−MCM6 −Ubc13

Ubc

13 K

O

WT

WCE

HCT116

−Ub2

K6

K11

K27

K29

K33

K48

K63

M1

Ub2 input (100%)

K63-UIM MUT

Pull-down: K63-Super-UIM

K63-UIM WT + + + +

+ + + + + +

+ + + + + + K6 K11 K27 K29 K33 K48 K63 M1 Ub2

14–

28–

38–

17–

γ-H2AX 53BP1 merge

WT

+IR

−IR

Ubc

13 K

O

+IR

HA/Myc 53BP1 merge Ubc13 KO + IR

HA-

RN

F8ΔR

- U

bc13

H

A-

Ubc

13

Myc

- RN

F8ΔR

- U

bcH

2 H

A-

RNF8

Myc

- RN

F8ΔR

- U

bcH

7

WT

MDC1 Ubiquitin (FK2)

Ubc

13 K

O

f

UIM1 UIM2 UIM3 Bioease/GFP K63-Super-UIM

UIM1 UIM2 UIM3 MUT

* * * * * * WT

Bioease/GFP 0

20

40

60

80

100 K63-Super-UIM53BP1

DN

A d

amag

e st

ripes

(%

of c

ells

)

Ubc13 CTRL RNF8 RNF168 siRNA:

g

−IR

+laser microirradiation

Page 35: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Thorslund et al, Figure 2 d

b

+ + + + + + + +

−H1.2

*

39–

64–

97–

191–

51–

191–

H1.2-Ubn

Ubn

U2OS

IR

USP2cc

WT WT MUT MUT K63-UIM

Pull

dow

n: K

63-S

uper

-UIM

c

IR DOX

+ + + + + + + +

−H1.2

−RNF8

−MCM6

−RNF168

Pull

dow

n: K

63-S

uper

-UIM

W

CE

U2OS/shRNF8 U2OS/shRNF168

97−

191−

64−

97−

191−

H1.2-Ubn

Ubn

IR +

+ +

−H1.2

−MCM6

−Ubc13

Pull

dow

n: K

63-S

uper

-UIM

W

CE

siUbc13

97−

191−

64−

97−

191−

64−

H1.2-Ubn

Ubn

siCTRL + +

+ +

U2OS

H1.2-Ubn

−H1.2

Time (min) 60 120 90 30 RNF8351-485 + + +

In vitro ubiquitylation (Nucleosomes+E1+UbcH5c

+Ubc13-Mms2)

e a

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

K48 K63 K11 K6

Ubiquitin linkage type

SIL

AC

ratio (

Ubc

13 K

O/W

T)

Experiment 1

Experiment 2

N.S.

**

**

Page 36: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

f

Thorslund et al, Figure 3

0

20

40

60

80

100siCTRLsiH1

DN

A d

amag

e st

ripe

inte

nsity

(r

elat

ive

to s

iCTR

L)

0

20

40

60

80

100

GFP

-K63

-UIM

stri

pe(%

cel

ls re

lativ

e to

siC

TRL)

c γ-H2AX+

DAPI

siC

TRL

siH

1

53BP1 GFP-K63-Super-UIM

U2OS/GFP-K63-Super-UIM

+laser microirradiation

d

GFP

53BP

1 G

FP

U2OS + IR

HMGB1-GFP GFP-H1.2 HMGB1-GFP+

GFP-H1.2

γ-H

2AX

b C

hrom

atin

−MCM6

−γ-H2AX (low exposure)

siH1 IR + +

U2OS

−γ-H2AX −γ-H2AX-Ub1 (K119 or K13/K15) γ-H2AX-Ub2 (K119 and K13/K15)

siCTRL +

+ + +

−H2AX

siH

1 si

CTR

L

GFP-K63-Super-UIM

U2OS/GFP-K63-Super-UIM WT + IR

γ-H2AX 53BP1

a

0

50

100

53B

P1

foci

(% c

ells

rel.

to c

ontro

l)

GFP HMGB1-GFP GFP-H1.2

g

e

+ + +

+ +

Page 37: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

a

Thorslund et al, Figure 4

c

1714

P4D1 (S.C)

K6 K11 K27 K29 K33 K48 K63 M1

Pull-

dow

n:

Stre

p In

put

−Ub2

−UDM1

−Ub2

Ub2 K6

K11

K27

K29

K33

K48

K63

M1

Strep-RNF168(UDM1) + Ub2

MDC1

RNF8 P P

Ubc13

∫∫∫∫H1

DSB

P

γ-H2AX

MDC1

RNF8 P P

Ubc13

P MDC1

RNF8 P P

Ubc13

P

53BP1 53BP1

UbMe

H2A ∫∫ ∫∫ ∫∫∫∫ ∫∫∫∫ ∫∫H1 ∫∫∫∫ ∫∫

H1

UbUb

Ub

RAD18 Ub

Ub

RAP80 BRCA1-

A

UbUb

RNF168 Ub

UbK63 RNF168

E2

Ub

UbK63

E2

1

HsRNF168

MIU2 (443-459)

571

RING (15-58)

MIU1 (171-188)

UMI (141-156)

LRM1 (110-128)

Binds RNF8-generated ubiquitylation products

(H1-K63-Ub)

Binds RNF168-generated ubiquitylation products

(H2A-Ub)

LRM2 (466-478)

UDM1 UDM2

Inpu

t

−UDM1

−H1.0

−UDM2 −UDM1

−H2A

−UDM2

UDM1 UDM2

Pull-down

+ +

Inpu

t UDM1 UDM2

Pull-down

+ +

b

e

d

IR + + +

−Strep-UDM1

H1x-Ubn

Pull

dow

n: S

trep

UDM2 UDM1 − U2OS + Strep-RNF168 UDM

−MCM6

WC

E

−Strep-UDM2

− H1x −

98

62

49

WT

ΔUDM

2 ΔU

DM1

γ-H2AX GFP-RNF168 53BP1 U2OS/shRNF168 + GFP-RNF168 + IR

GFP

-RN

F168

f

Page 38: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Thorslund et al, Extended Data Figure 1 +I

R W

T

HA-RNF8 53BP1 merge +I

R −I

R a

c

Ubc

13 K

O

d

HA-

RNF8

(*FH

A)

ΔR-U

bc13

HCT116 Ubc13 KO + IR

HA 53BP1 merge

siC

TRL

siRN

F8

HA-

RNF8

ΔR

-Ubc

13

HA-

Ubc

13

− RNF168 γ-H2AX DAPI

+IR

WT

+IR

Ubc

13 K

O

b

HA-RNF8 ΔR-Ubc13

HA-RNF168 R RNF168

Ubc13 HA

Ubc13 RNF8 HA

R RNF8 HA

UbcH7 RNF8 Myc HA-RNF8 ΔR-UbcH2

HA-RNF8

HA-Ubc13

UbcH2 RNF8 Myc HA-RNF8 ΔR-UbcH7

+

Rescues 53BP1 foci

+

+

HA

e

CI

53BP1 merge HA-RNF168

WT

HA-

RNF1

68

HCT116 Ubc13 KO + IR

Page 39: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Thorslund et al, Extended Data Figure 2 a

b

c WT

U2OS/GFP-K63-Super-UIM MUT

GFP

-K63

-Su

per-U

IM

+laser microirradiation

γH2A

X

53BP1 GFP-K63-Super-UIM

U2OS/GFP-K63-Super-UIM WT

siC

TRL

siU

bc13

si

RNF1

68

siRN

F8

γ-H2AX + DAPI

+ laser microirradiation

53BP1 GFP-NLS-Vps27-UIM

U2OS/GFP-NLS-Vps27-UIM

siC

TRL

siU

bc13

si

RNF1

68

siRN

F8

γ-H2AX

+ laser microirradiation

d

e

WC

E

−RNF8

−Ubc13

si53BP1

U2OS

−53BP1

siUbc13 siRNF8

+ +

+

−Actin

siC

TRL

siRN

F8

siRN

F168

si

Ubc

13

γ-H2AX GFP-K63-Super-UIM 53BP1

U2OS/GFP-K63-Super-UIM WT + IR

WC

E

−Ubc13 −53BP1

−Actin

Ubc

13 K

O

WT

HCT116

IB: HA

IB: H1.2

IB: HA

Pull

dow

n:

K63-

Supe

r-UIM

W

CE

IR + + + +

HA- RNF8

CI

HA- RNF8 WT −

HA- RNF168

WT

f

Page 40: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Thorslund et al, Extended Data Figure 3

diGly sites identified

b c

diGly sites showing ≥2-fold enrichment in WT cells

d

f g

K63-Super-UIM bound proteins identified

K63-Super-UIM bound proteins showing ≥2-fold enrichment in WT cells

Light (L) SILAC (Arg0/Lys0)

Combine lysates

Pull-down: di-Gly antibody

In-solution digestion

Medium (M) SILAC (Arg6/Lys4)

LC-MS/MS analysis

Ubc13 KO WT

Light (L) SILAC (Arg0/Lys0)

Combine lysates

In-solution digestion

Pull-down: K63-Super-UIM

Heavy (H) SILAC (Arg8/Lys10)

LC-MS/MS analysis

Ubc13 KO WT

a

e

h

Exp. 1 Exp. 2 Exp. 1 Exp. 2

Exp. 1 Exp. 2 Exp. 1 Exp. 2

Page 41: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Thorslund et al, Extended Data Figure 4 a

b

Positive regulation of I-κB kinase/NF-κB signaling

Protein K63-linked ubiquitylation

Protein K48-linked ubiquitylation Vesicle docking

GO biological process ATP hydrolysis coupled protein transport

Pull-down: K63-Super-UIM

Light (L) SILAC (Arg0/Lys0)

Combine lysates

In-gel digestion

LC-MS/MS analysis

+IR Mock

Heavy (H) SILAC (Arg10/Lys8) Protein SILAC ratio

(H/L) TRAF6 3.41 TRAF2 2.91 HP1BP3 2.62 Histone H1.2 1.85 Histone H1x 1.66 Histone H1.0 1.40 CENPF 1.36 SUMO1 1.36 Histone H2A 1.10 Histone H3 1.09 Histone H2B 0.96 Histone H4 0.88

c d

Page 42: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Thorslund et al, Extended Data Figure 5 a

c

e

SILAC ratio (H/L)

RNF8 * 2.29 Histone H1 1.60 HERC2 1.50 PRPF19 1.42 TPR 1.38 RUVBL2 1.28 ERCC1 1.24 XPF 1.16

Protein

d

−Ubc13

−H1x-Strep-Ub1

−RNF168 −RNF8

−MCM6

H1x − −

−H1x-Strep-Ub2 −H1x-Strep-Ub3

64

50

35

WC

E

Pull-

dow

n:

Stre

p

siC

TRL

IR + + + + + +

siC

TRL

siH

1x

siC

TRL

siC

TRL

siRN

F8

siRN

F168

si

Ubc

13

U2OS/Strep-Ub U2OS

+ + + + +

+ + +

−H1x-Strep-Ub4

IR Serum

+ + + +

−H1.2

−γ-H2AX −MCM6

−Cyclin A

Pull

dow

n: K

63-S

uper

-UIM

WC

E RPE1

97−

191−

97−

191−

H1.2-Ubn

Ubn

IB: H1.2 IB: H2A IB: H2B IB: H3 IB: H4

Pull-down: K63-UIM MUT

IB: Ub

+ +

98

62 49

38

28

17 Pull-

dow

n: K

63-S

uper

-UIM

W

CE

+ +

IR Pull-down: K63-UIM WT

+ + +

+

+ + +

+

+ + +

+

+ + +

+

+ + +

+

H1.2-Ubn

+

+ + +

+

+ + +

98

62

49

38

28

IB: H1x IB: Ub

WC

E

PD: K63-UIM MUT

IR PD: K63-UIM WT

Pull-

dow

n: K

63-U

IM

b

IB: H1x

+

+ + +

Page 43: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Thorslund et al, Extended Data Figure 6 a b

99kD

anti-MCM6

siMM

si5914

siMM

si5914

anti-H1

anti-H1.0

anti-H1.1

anti-H1.2

- 39 kD

- 39 kD

- 39 kD

- 39 kD

P3.3 w42 Western Blot_checking H1 KD efficiency with different H1 antibodies

(double KD 72h and 48h before lysis)

IB: pan-H1

IB: MCM6 WC

E

siCTRL siH1(#1,4,5,9) +

+ U2OS

99kD

anti-MCM6

siMM

si5914

siMM

si5914

anti-H1

anti-H1.0

anti-H1.1

anti-H1.2

- 39 kD

- 39 kD

- 39 kD

- 39 kD

P3.3 w42 Western Blot_checking H1 KD efficiency with different H1 antibodies

(double KD 72h and 48h before lysis)

c

siC

TRL

MDC1 DAPI+γ-H2AX U2OS

siH

1

+laser micro-irradiation

f

d

g si

CTR

L BRCA1 DAPI+γ-H2AX

U2OS si

H1

+laser micro-irradiation

siC

TRL

GFP-K63-UIM U2OS/GFP-K63-UIM WT + IR

γ-H2AX 53BP1

siH

1 si

CTR

L

RNF168 γ-H2AX U2OS + laser micro-irradiation

siH

1

DAPI

WC

E

−GFP-H1.0 −GFP-H1.1 −GFP-H1.2

−GFP-H1.3

−GFP-H1.4

−GFP-H1.5

siC

TRL

siH

1(#1

) si

H1(

#2)

siH

1(#3

) si

H1(

#4)

siH

1(#5

)

siH

1(#6

) si

H1(

#7)

siH

1(#8

) si

H1(

#9)

siH

1(#1

0) U2OS

e

siC

TRL

RNF168 γ-H2AX U2OS + IR

siH

1

DAPI

h

Chr

omat

in

−MCM6

−H2AX

siRNF168 IR + + +

U2OS

−γ-H2AX −γ-H2AX-Ub1 (K119 or K13/K15) γ-H2AX-Ub2 (K119 and K13/K15)

siCTRL siRNF8

+ +

+ +

Page 44: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Thorslund et al, Extended Data Figure 7

a

b

HA-RNF168 53BP1 HMGB1-GFP

HA-

RNF1

68 W

T H

A-RN

F168

WT

HA-RNF168 γ-H2AX HMGB1-GFP

HA-

RNF1

68 C

I H

A-RN

F168

CI

U2OS + HMGB1-GFP + HA-RNF168 + IR

U2OS + HMGB1-GFP + HA-RNF168 + IR

c

FLAG-HMGB1

γ-H2AX + DAPI

GFP-K63-Super-UIM

U2OS/GFP-K63-Super-UIM + FLAG-HMGB1

+laser micro-irradiation

Page 45: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Thorslund et al, Extended Data Figure 8

a

b

−Strep-UDM1

H1.2-Ubn

Pull

dow

n:

Stre

p W

CE

Strep-RNF168 UDM1

− WT

*UM

I

*MIU

1

f

d

−K63 Ub2

K63

Ub 2

inpu

t

Strep- UDM1

[KCl]

Strep- UDM2

Pull-down: Strep

−Strep-UDM1 −Strep-UDM2

LSKPGELRREYEEEISKVAAERRASEEEENKASEEYIQRLLAEEEEEEKRQAEKRRRAMEEQLKSDEELARKLSIDINN LRM1 UMI MIU1

IR + + +

−Strep-UDM1

−H1.2

H1.2-Ubn

Pull

dow

n: S

trep

UDM2 UDM1 −

Strep-RNF168 UDM

−H1.2

WC

E

−Strep-UDM2

Ub 2

inpu

t (20

%)

Stre

p

Stre

p-U

DM2

−Ub2(K6)

−Ub2(K11)

−Ub2(K27)

−Ub2(K29) −Ub2(K33)

−Ub2(K48) −Ub2(K63)

−Ub2(M1)

c

Bio-LRM2 peptide Bio-LRM1 peptide

+ +

14− 17−

28−

38−

+

Pull-down: Streptavidin Input (50%)

MW

mar

ker

−H1.0

−H2A −Streptavidin

H1.

0

H2A

+

+H2A +H1.0

e

Colloidal Blue

110

LRM1 peptide *UMI (L149A)

188

*MIU1 (A179G)

Page 46: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Thorslund et al, Extended Data Figure 9

IB: H1.2 IB: H2A

−Strep-

+ + +

+ + +

IR

Strep- UDM1

Pull

dow

n W

CE

IB: H2B IB: H3 IB: H4

−MCM6

+ + +

+ + +

+ + +

+ + +

UDM1

WCE Pull-down: Strep-RNF168-UDM1

b GFP-UDM1 γ-H2AX 53BP1 merge

Increased K63 ubiquitylation

after IR

Pulled down by GFP-UDM1

172 34 1

(H1x)

SILAC ratio > 1.5 c

U2OS + GFP-UDM1

+laser micro-irradiation

a

Page 47: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Thorslund et al, Extended Data Figure 10

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Time (min) Bleach

GFP

-H1.

2 in

tens

ity (r

el. t

o pr

e-bl

each

)

IR + +

−H1.2

−MCM6

Pull

dow

n: K

63-S

uper

-UIM

Inpu

t

97−

191−

64−

H1.2-Ubn

Ubn

97−

191− H1x-Ubn

97−

191−

64−

−γH2AX −γH2AX-Ub1

−53BP1

−H1x

−RNF168

−H2AX

a b

Mock IR

−H3

U2OS + EBC buffer

Page 48: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Supplementary  Figure  –  Uncropped  scans  with  size  marker  (kDa)  indica=ons    

Figure  2b  

Ubiqui=n  

H1.2  

191  

191  

97  

64  

97  

64  

51  

39  

51  

28  

39  

28  

1  

Figure  1a  Ubc13  

MCM6  

Figure  1f  

17  14  

6  

3  

28  38  51  64  

97  191  

Ubiqui=n  

Figure  2c/shRNF8  PD/H1.2  

PD/Ubiqui=n  

Input/RNF8  

Input/MCM6   Input/H1.2  

191   191  191  

191  

97   97  97  

64   64  64  

64  

51   51  51  

51  

39   39  

39  

39  

51  

28   28  28  

28  

Figure  2c/shRNF168  

191  

191  

191  

PD/H1.2  

PD/Ubi  

Input/MCM6  

Input/H1.2  

Input/RNF168  

97  

97  

64  

64  

64  51  

51  

39  28  

28  39  

51  39  

19  14  

Page 49: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Figure  2d  

191  

191  

191  

97  

97  

97  

64  

64  

64  51  

51  

39  28  

17  14  

6  

PD/H1.2  

PD/Ubiqui=n  

Input/MCM6  

Input/H1.2  

Input/Ubc13  H2AX  

MCM6  

Figure  3e  y-­‐H2AX  

y-­‐H2AX  

Figure  4b  Input/Ubiqui=n   PD/Ubiqui=n  

Ponceau  188  98  62  49  38  28  

28  17  

17  14  

14  6  

6  

Figure  2e  H1.2  

Figure  4c  

H1.0  

H2A  

His6   His6  

188  

188   188  98  

98  62  

62   62  49  49  

49   49  38  38  

38   38  28  28  

28   28  17  17  

17   17  14  14  

14   14  

6  

Figure  4d  PD/H1x  

Input/H1x  

Input/His  

Input/MCM6  

Ext  Data  2e  Ac=n  

53BP1  Ubc13  

RNF8  

Ext  Data  2f  PD/HA  

Input/HA  

Input/H1.2  

2  

Page 50: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Ext  Data  5a  

PD/H1.2   PD/Ubiqui=n  

H1.2  

Cyclin  A  

y-­‐H2AX  

MCM6  

191   191  97   97  

97  

64   64  

51   51  

51  

39   39  

39  

28  

28  

28  

14  

14  14  

Ext  Data  5b  H1x/High  

H1x/low  

Ubi  

Ext  Data  5c  

H1.2/long   H1.2/short  

MCM6  

Ubiqui=n  

H2A/long  H2A/short   Ubiqui=n  

Ubiqu=n  H2B/short  H2B/long  

MCM6  

MCM6  

H3/long  

H3/short  

Ubiqui=n  

MCM6  

H4/long  H4/short  

MCM6  

Ubiqui=n  

3  

Page 51: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Ext  Data  5d  

Input/H1x  

PD/H1x  

Input/H1x  

Input/RNF8  

Input/RNF168  

Input/Ubc13  

Input/MCM6  

250  148  

98  

64  

50  

35  

PD/H1x  

Ext  Data  6a  

191  

191  

191  

191  

191  

97  97  97  

97  97   64  

64  

64  64  64  

64  

51   51  51  

51  

51  51  

39  

39   39  39  

39  

39  

28  

28   28  28  

28  

28  

19  

19   19  19  

19  

19  

GFP-­‐H1.1/GFP  

GFP-­‐H1.0/GFP  

GFP-­‐H1.4/GFP  

GFP-­‐H1.5/GFP  

GFP-­‐H1.2/GFP  

GFP-­‐H1.3/GFP  

4  

Page 52: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Ext  Data  6b  

39  

28  

Pan-­‐H1  MCM6  

97  

64  

191  

Ext  Data  6h  y-­‐H2AX  

H2AX  

MCM6  

Ext  Data  8a  Ubiqui=n  

His6  

Ext  Data  8b  

Ubiqui=n  

Ubiqui=n  

Ext  Data  8e  

PD/H1.2  

Input/H1.2  

Input/His6  

Ext  Data  8f  

H1.2  

His6  

5  

Page 53: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Ext  Data  9a  H1.2/long  

H1.2/short  

H2A/short  H2A/long  

H2B/long  

H2B/short  

H3/short  

H3/long  

H4/long  H4/short  

MCM6  

MCM6  

MCM6  

H1.2/medium  

MCM6  

MCM6  

His6  

His6  

His6  

His6  

His6  

6  

Page 54: Histone H1 couples initiation and amplification of

Ext  Data  10b  

PD/H1.2  

PD/H1x  

PD/Ubiqui=n  

53BP1  

yH2AX  

H3  

H1x  

H2AX  

RNF168  

H1.2  

MCM6  

7