Unchanged PCNA and DNMT1 dynamics during replication in DNA ligase I-deficient cells but abnormal chromatin levels of non-replicative histone H1

DNA ligase I (LigI), the predominant enzyme that joins Okazaki fragments, interacts with PCNA and Pol d. LigI also interacts with UHRF1, linking Okazaki fragment joining with DNA maintenance methylation. Okazaki fragments can also be joined by a relatively poorly characterized DNA ligase IIIa (LigIIIa)-dependent backup pathway. Here we examined the effect of LigI-deficiency on proteins at the replication fork. Notably, LigI-deficiency did not alter the kinetics of association of the PCNA clamp, the leading strand polymerase Pol e, DNA maintenance methylation proteins and core histones with newly synthesized DNA. While the absence of major changes in replication and methylation proteins is consistent with the similar proliferation rate and DNA methylation levels of the LIG1 null cells compared with the parental cells, the increased levels of LigIIIa/XRCC1 and Pol d at the replication fork and in bulk chromatin indicate that there are subtle replication defects in the absence of LigI. Interestingly, the non-replicative histone H1 variant, H1.0, is present in the chromatin of LigI-deficient mouse and human cells. This alteration was not corrected by expression of wild type LigI, suggesting that it is a stable epigenetic change that may contribute to the immunodeficiencies linked with inherited LigI-deficiency syndrome.