Site-specific DNA double-strand break induces local transcription in cis and protein expression

The DNA damage response is a complex network of pathways that cells activate to safeguard genome integrity following DNA damage, including DNA double-strand breaks. We and others previously reported that RNA polymerase II, together with components of the preinitiation complex, is recruited to exposed DNA ends. This results in the assembly of a fully competent transcriptional apparatus and the synthesis of damage-induced long non-coding RNAs, which are necessary for full DNA damage response activation. Thus, DNA double-strand breaks could act as transcriptional promoters. Whether such DNA breaks, generated upstream of an open reading frame lacking a transcriptional promoter and followed by a polyadenylation signal, can induce the transcription of a coding RNA that is subsequently translated into a protein product remains unknown. Here, taking advantage of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we generate a sequence-specific double-strand break upstream of a promoter-less, and therefore silent, reporter gene in two distinct cellular systems. In both cell models, a DNA double-strand break is sufficient to trigger the expression of polyadenylated transcripts and a protein product. Collectively, our results demonstrate that DNA double-strand breaks can act as functional promoters capable of driving protein synthesis, revealing an additional mechanism through which DNA damage can regulate gene expression.