Proximal proteomics analysis reveals DNA polymerase δ subunit 3 is a new MCM2 binding partner and promotes parental histones inheritance in mammalian cells

In mammalian cells, MCM2 and POLE3/4 safeguard the symmetrical segregation of parental histones to the leading and lagging strands of newly synthesized DNA. However, the identity of additional proteins involved in parental histone distribution remains elusive. We used TurboID proximity labeling to identify interaction partners of MCM2 and POLE3/4 in mouse cells. This approach provided a candidate protein library potentially involved in the MCM2 and POLE3/POLE4-mediated process of parental histone segregation. DNA polymerase δ subunit 3 (POLD3) was a protein whose intensity differed between the interactomes of wild-type MCM2 and its histone-binding mutant. We showed POLD3 bound to both MCM2 and the histone (H3-H4)<sub>2</sub> tetramers. Moreover, MCM2's histone binding affected interactions between POLD3 and histone H3. More importantly, POLD3 was required for the symmetrical transfer of parental histones H3-H4 to the leading and lagging strands of newly synthesized DNA in mouse cells. In short, our findings establish that POLD3 forms a protein complex with MCM2 and histone (H3-H4)<sub>2</sub> tetramers, functioning as a novel histone chaperone to regulate parental histone segregation in mammalian cells.

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Publication Details

Journal
Cell Death and Differentiation
Published
2025-11-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41418-025-01619-z
Primary Topic
Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Proximal proteomics analysis reveals DNA polymerase δ subunit 3 is a new MCM2 binding partner and promotes parental histones inheritance in mammalian cells

Xing Kang, Kui Ming Chan, Daoqin Zhang, Yuan Gao et al.
Cell Death and Differentiation
Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
article

Proximal proteomics analysis reveals DNA polymerase δ subunit 3 is a new MCM2 binding partner and promotes parental histones inheritance in mammalian cells

Xing Kang, Kui Ming Chan, Daoqin Zhang, Yuan Gao, Yu-Chun Wu, Yuan Yao, Haiyun Gan, Wenjuan Zhao, Jiaqi Zhou, Nan Li, Gang Li, Ziwei Zhang, Fang Liu, Yaping Sun, Yue Li, Zhiquan Wang, Chuanhe Yu, Xiaoyan Liang, Lingyu Qiu
article en

Abstract

In mammalian cells, MCM2 and POLE3/4 safeguard the symmetrical segregation of parental histones to the leading and lagging strands of newly synthesized DNA. However, the identity of additional proteins involved in parental histone distribution remains elusive. We used TurboID proximity labeling to identify interaction partners of MCM2 and POLE3/4 in mouse cells. This approach provided a candidate protein library potentially involved in the MCM2 and POLE3/POLE4-mediated process of parental histone segregation. DNA polymerase δ subunit 3 (POLD3) was a protein whose intensity differed between the interactomes of wild-type MCM2 and its histone-binding mutant. We showed POLD3 bound to both MCM2 and the histone (H3-H4)<sub>2</sub> tetramers. Moreover, MCM2's histone binding affected interactions between POLD3 and histone H3. More importantly, POLD3 was required for the symmetrical transfer of parental histones H3-H4 to the leading and lagging strands of newly synthesized DNA in mouse cells. In short, our findings establish that POLD3 forms a protein complex with MCM2 and histone (H3-H4)<sub>2</sub> tetramers, functioning as a novel histone chaperone to regulate parental histone segregation in mammalian cells.

Cell Death and Differentiation
Macau University of Science and Technology (MO), University of Minnesota (US), City University of Hong Kong (HK), University of Macau (MO), Hormel (United States) (US), Southern University of Science and Technology (CN), University Town of Shenzhen (CN), Shenzhen Sixth People's Hospital (CN), Mayo Clinic in Arizona (US), State Key Laboratory of Synthetic Chemistry (CN), Synthetic Genomics (United States) (US), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (CN), University School (US), Case Western Reserve University (US), Stanford University (US), Tsinghua University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Openalex Percentile: Top 67%
Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
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