Ataxia telangiectasia-mutated protein and DNA-dependent protein kinase have complementary V(D)J recombination functions.
Antigen receptor variable region exons are assembled during lymphocyte development from variable (V), diversity (D), and joining (J) gene segments. Each germ-line gene segment is flanked by recombination signal sequences (RSs). Recombination-activating gene endonuclease initiates V(D)J recombination by cleaving a pair of gene segments at their junction with flanking RSs to generate covalently sealed (hairpinned) coding ends (CEs) and blunt 5'-phosphorylated RS ends (SEs). Subsequently, nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) opens, processes, and fuses CEs to form coding joins (CJs) and precisely joins SEs to form signal joins (SJs). DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) activates Artemis endonuclease to open and process hairpinned CEs before their fusion into CJs by other NHEJ factors. Although DNA-PKcs is absolutely required for CJs, SJs are formed to variable degrees and with variable fidelity in different DNA-PKcs-deficient cell types. Thus, other factors may compensate for DNA-PKcs function in SJ formation. DNA-PKcs and the ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) kinase are members of the same family, and they share common substrates in the DNA damage response. Although ATM deficiency compromises chromosomal V(D)J CJ formation, it has no reported role in SJ formation in normal cells. Here, we report that DNA-PKcs and ATM have redundant functions in SJ formation. Thus, combined DNA-PKcs and ATM deficiency during V(D)J recombination leads to accumulation of unjoined SEs and lack of SJ fidelity. Moreover, treatment of DNA-PKcs- or ATM-deficient cells, respectively, with specific kinase inhibitors for ATM or DNA-PKcs recapitulates SJ defects, indicating that the overlapping V(D)J recombination functions of ATM and DNA-PKcs are mediated through their kinase activities.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Children's Hospital, Immune Disease Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. sz2296@columbia.edu
Shan
S
Zha
Wenxia
W
Jiang
Yuko
Y
Fujiwara
Harin
H
Patel
Peter H
PH
Goff
James W
JW
Brush
Richard L
RL
Dubois
Frederick W
FW
Alt
D000818:Animals; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; D001483:Base Sequence; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D017931:DNA Primers; D051747:DNA-Activated Protein Kinase / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D045567:VDJ Recombinases / Q000378:metabolism*
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; C576325:Atm protein, mouse; D051747:DNA-Activated Protein Kinase; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D045567:VDJ Recombinases
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