Uncoupling from transcription protects polyadenylation site cleavage from inhibition by DNA damage

Pre-mRNA 3’-end processing by cleavage and polyadenylation (CPA) is a nuclear process in which RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcripts are cleaved at the polyadenylation site (PAS cleavage) before addition of a poly(A) tail. While PAS cleavage is usually coupled to transcription termination, for some pre-mRNAs it occurs post-transcriptionally, i.e. after pre-mRNA release from chromatin to nucleoplasm through a downstream co-transcriptional cleavage (CoTC) event. DNA-damaging agents such as ultraviolet-C (UV) irradiation trigger rapid shutdown of pre-mRNA 3’-end processing. However, specific compensatory mechanisms exist to ensure efficient 3’-end processing for some pre-mRNAs encoding proteins involved in the DNA damage response (DDR), such as the p53 tumor suppressor protein. Here, we show that PAS cleavage of the p53 pre-mRNA occurs in part post-transcriptionally, in a PCF11-independent manner, in the nucleoplasm, following a CoTC-type event. Upon UV-irradiation, cells with an engineered deletion of the p53 CoTC site exhibit impaired 3’-end processing of the p53 pre-mRNA, decreased mRNA and protein levels of p53 and its transcriptional target, p21, and altered cell cycle progression. Finally, using a transcriptome-wide analysis of PAS cleavage, we identified additional-including DDR related-pre-mRNAs whose PAS cleavage is maintained in response to UV and occurs post-transcriptionally. These findings indicate that CoTC-type cleavage of pre-mRNAs, followed by PAS cleavage in the nucleoplasm, allows specific pre-mRNAs to escape 3’-end processing inhibition in response to UV-induced DNA damage.