title: Role of mammalian Mre11 in classical and alternative nonhomologous end joining.
abstract: The mammalian Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 (MRN) complex coordinates double-strand break signaling with repair by homologous recombination and is associated with the H2A.X chromatin response to double-strand breaks, but its role in nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) is less clear. Here we show that Mre11 promotes efficient NHEJ in both wild-type and Xrcc4(-/-) mouse embryonic stem cells. Depletion of Mre11 reduces the use of microhomology during NHEJ in Xrcc4(+/+) cells and suppresses end resection in Xrcc4(-/-) cells, revealing specific roles for Mre11 in both classical and alternative NHEJ. The NHEJ function of Mre11 is independent of H2A.X. We propose a model in which both enzymatic and scaffolding functions of Mre11 cooperate to support mammalian NHEJ.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. axie@bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Anyong
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kwok
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scully
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; D015153:Blotting, Western; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004260:DNA Repair; D045643:DNA Repair Enzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006657:Histones / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000076228:MRE11 Homologue Protein; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D045643:DNA Repair Enzymes; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006657:Histones; D000076228:MRE11 Homologue Protein; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C512689:Mre11a protein, mouse; C511788:XRCC4 protein, mouse; C576325:Atm protein, mouse; C475961:gamma-H2AX protein, mouse