SUMO-2 Orchestrates Chromatin Modifiers in Response to DNA Damage

Small ubiquitin-like modifiers play critical roles in the DNA damage response (DDR). To increase our understanding of SUMOylation in the mammalian DDR, we employed a quantitative proteomics approach in order to identify dynamically regulated SUMO-2 conjugates and modification sites upon treatment with the DNA damaging agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). We have uncovered a dynamic set of 20 upregulated and 33 downregulated SUMO-2 conjugates, and 755 SUMO-2 sites, of which 362 were dynamic in response to MMS. In contrast to yeast, where a response is centered on homologous recombination, we identified dynamically SUMOylated interaction networks of chromatin modifiers, transcription factors, DNA repair factors, and nuclear body components. SUMOylated chromatin modifiers include JARID1B/KDM5B, JARID1C/KDM5C, p300, CBP, PARP1, SetDB1, and MBD1. Whereas SUMOylated JARID1B was ubiquitylated by the SUMO-targeted ubiquitin ligase RNF4 and degraded by the proteasome in response to DNA damage, JARID1C was SUMOylated and recruited to the chromatin to demethylate histone H3K4.