title: Cooperative assembly of a protein-DNA filament for nonhomologous end joining.
abstract: Nonhomologous end joining repairs DNA double-strand breaks created by ionizing radiation and V(D)J recombination. Ku, XRCC4/Ligase IV (XL), and XLF have a remarkable mismatched end (MEnd) ligase activity, particularly for ends with mismatched 3' overhangs, but the mechanism has remained obscure. Here, we showed XL required Ku to bind DNA, whereas XLF required both Ku and XL to bind DNA. We detected cooperative assembly of one or two Ku molecules and up to five molecules each of XL and XLF into a Ku-XL-XLF-DNA (MEnd ligase-DNA) complex. XLF mutations that disrupted its interactions with XRCC4 or DNA also disrupted complex assembly and end joining. Together with published co-crystal structures of truncated XRCC4 and XLF proteins, our data with full-length Ku, XL, and XLF bound to DNA indicate assembly of a filament containing Ku plus alternating XL and XLF molecules. By contrast, in the absence of XLF, we detected cooperative assembly of up to six molecules each of Ku and XL into a Ku-XL-DNA complex, consistent with a filament containing alternating Ku and XL molecules. Despite a lower molecular mass, MEnd ligase-DNA had a lower electrophoretic mobility than Ku-XL-DNA. The anomalous difference in mobility and difference in XL to Ku molar ratio suggests that MEnd ligase-DNA has a distinct structure that successfully aligns mismatched DNA ends for ligation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Chun J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Gilbert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chu
mesh_terms: D034961:Antigens, Nuclear / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D059766:DNA End-Joining Repair; D000072481:DNA Ligase ATP; D011088:DNA Ligases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D045643:DNA Repair Enzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D006801:Humans; D000072200:Ku Autoantigen; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation
chemical_list: D034961:Antigens, Nuclear; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C508551:NHEJ1 protein, human; C101467:XRCC4 protein, human; D004247:DNA; C000606509:Xrcc6 protein, human; D000072200:Ku Autoantigen; D011088:DNA Ligases; D045643:DNA Repair Enzymes; D000072481:DNA Ligase ATP
keywords: DNA Recombination; DNA Repair; Double-strand Break Repair; Immunology; Nonhomologous End Joining; Protein Complexes; Protein-DNA Interaction; V(D)J Recombination