RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Retinoblastoma protein regulates carcinogen susceptibility at heterochromatic cancer driver loci JF Life Science Alliance JO Life Sci. Alliance FD Life Science Alliance LLC SP e202101134 DO 10.26508/lsa.202101134 VO 5 IS 4 A1 Ka Man Wong A1 Devin A King A1 Erin K Schwartz A1 Rafael E Herrera A1 Ashby J Morrison YR 2022 UL https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/5/4/e202101134.abstract AB Carcinogenic insult, such as UV light exposure, creates DNA lesions that evolve into mutations if left unrepaired. These resulting mutations can contribute to carcinogenesis and drive malignant phenotypes. Susceptibility to carcinogens (i.e., the propensity to form a carcinogen-induced DNA lesion) is regulated by both genetic and epigenetic factors. Importantly, carcinogen susceptibility is a critical contributor to cancer mutagenesis. It is known that mutations can be prevented by tumor suppressor regulation of DNA damage response pathways; however, their roles carcinogen susceptibility have not yet been reported. In this study, we reveal that the retinoblastoma (RB1) tumor suppressor regulates UV susceptibility across broad regions of the genome. In particular, centromere and telomere-proximal regions exhibit significant increases in UV lesion susceptibility when RB1 is deleted. Several cancer-related genes are located within genomic regions of increased susceptibility, including telomerase reverse transcriptase, TERT, thereby accelerating mutagenic potential in cancers with RB1 pathway alterations. These findings reveal novel genome stability mechanisms of a tumor suppressor and uncover new pathways to accumulate mutations during cancer evolution.