scid cells are deficient in Ku and replication protein A phosphorylation by the DNA-dependent protein kinase.

Cell mutants of the Ku nuclear DNA-binding complex are ionizing radiation sensitive and show V(D)J recombination defects. Ku binds and activates a catalytic subunit of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), although the substrates for DNA-PK are unknown. We found that scid cell extracts were deficient in Ku phosphorylation by DNA-PK. Human chromosome 8-complemented scid cells, containing the human DNA-PK catalytic subunit, restored Ku phosphorylation. Likewise, radiation-induced RPA hyperphosphorylation was not completed in scid cells compared with control or chromosome 8-reconstituted cells. Thus, the inactivity of DNA-PK is likely responsible for the repair and recombination defects in scid cells.

V(D)J recombination coding junction formation without DNA homology: processing of coding termini.

Coding junction formation in V(D)J recombination generates diversity in the antigen recognition structures of immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor molecules by combining processes of deletion of terminal coding sequences and addition of nucleotides prior to joining. We have examined the role of coding end DNA composition in junction formation with plasmid substrates containing defined homopolymers flanking the recombination signal sequence elements. We found that coding junctions formed efficiently with or without terminal DNA homology. The extent of junctional deletion was conserved independent of coding ends with increased, partial, or no DNA homology. Interestingly, G/C homopolymer coding ends showed reduced deletion regardless of DNA homology. Therefore, DNA homology cannot be the primary determinant that stabilizes coding end structures for processing and joining.

Identification of drm, a novel gene whose expression is suppressed in transformed cells and which can inhibit growth of normal but not transformed cells in culture.

Using differential display analysis, we compared the expression of RNA in v-mos-transformed cells and their flat revertant and isolated a novel gene, drm (down-regulated in mos-transformed cells), whose expression is down-regulated in parental v-mos-transformed cells but which is expressed at a high level in the revertant and normal rat fibroblasts (REF-1 cells). Analysis of different oncogene-transformed cells revealed that drm gene expression was also suppressed in REF-1 cells transformed by v-ras, v-src, v-raf, and v-fos. The drm cDNA contains a 184-amino-acid-protein-encoding open reading frame which shows no significant homologies to known genes in DNA databases. Polyclonal antibodies raised against drm peptide detect a protein with the predicted size of 20.7 kDa in normal cells and under nonpermissive conditions in cells conditionally transformed by v-mos but not in parental v-mos-transformed cells. Northern analysis of normal adult tissues shows that drm is expressed as a 4.4-kb message in a tissue-specific manner, with high expression in the brain, spleen, kidney, and testis and little or no expression in the heart, liver, and skeletal muscle. In situ hybridization analysis in adult rat tissue reveals good correlation with this pattern and indicates that drm mRNA is most highly expressed in nondividing and terminally differentiated cells, such as neurons, type 1 lung cells, and goblet cells. Transfection of a drug-selectable drm expression vector dramatically reduced the efficiency of colony formation in REF-1 and CHO cells, and the drm-transfected REF-1 survivors expressed low or nondetectable levels of exogenous drm mRNA. The toxic effects of drm can be overcome by cotransfection with constructs expressing oncogenic ras; furthermore, cells expressing high levels of drm and conditionally transformed with mos-expressing Moloney murine sarcoma virus rapidly undergo apoptosis when shifted to the nonpermissive temperature. Taken together, our data suggest that cells expressing high levels of drm undergo apoptotic death in the absence of oncogene-induced transformation and that drm represents a novel gene with potential roles in cell growth control or viability and tissue-specific differentiation.

Requirement for the kinase activity of human DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit in DNA strand break rejoining.

The catalytic subunit of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) is an enormous, 470-kDa protein serine/threonine kinase that has homology with members of the phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase superfamily. This protein contributes to the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by assembling broken ends of DNA molecules in combination with the DNA-binding factors Ku70 and Ku80. It may also serve as a molecular scaffold for recruiting DNA repair factors to DNA strand breaks. This study attempts to better define the role of protein kinase activity in the repair of DNA DSBs. We constructed a contiguous 14-kb human DNA-PKcs cDNA and demonstrated that it can complement the DNA DSB repair defects of two mutant cell lines known to be deficient in DNA-PKcs (M059J and V3). We then created deletion and site-directed mutations within the conserved PI 3-kinase domain of the DNA-PKcs gene to test the importance of protein kinase activity for DSB rejoining. These DNA-PKcs mutant constructs are able to express the protein but fail to complement the DNA DSB or V(D)J recombination defects of DNA-PKcs mutant cells. These results indicate that the protein kinase activity of DNA-PKcs is essential for the rejoining of DNA DSBs in mammalian cells. We have also determined a model structure for the DNA-PKcs kinase domain based on comparisons to the crystallographic structure of a cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. This structure gives some insight into which amino acid residues are crucial for the kinase activity in DNA-PKcs.

Cell cycle checkpoints and repair of ionizing radiation damage.

Following exposure to ionizing radiation (IR), normal cells activate a delay in any phase of the cell cycle in conjunction with DNA repair mechanisms. Cell cycle delay or arrest is a programmed response that is mutable by a variety of genetic changes. DNA repair mechanisms that are responsible for the repair of otherwise lethal IR-induced double-strand breaks (DSBs) operate in a parallel pathway. The formulation of this pathway has recently been investigated, and new information regarding several mutant cell lines that are unable to execute IR-induced DSB repair are summarized. The scid mutation and defects in Ku proteins have been characterized. Molecular readouts of the properties of IR repair have been identified, including the hyperphosphorylation of the 34 kDa subunit of replication protein A. In addition, we have identified features of the G1/S IR-induced checkpoint that can be influenced by p53 status, genetic background or the levels of cell cycle proteins. A further understanding of the players in these pathways is expected to lead to the identification of molecular markers for ionizing radiation damage. Examination of the changes in these proteins may be valuable in a clinical setting for documenting radiation exposure.

Coding sequence composition flanking either signal element alters V(D)J recombination efficiency.

Lymphoid V(D)J rearrangement is targeted by recombination signal sequences (RSS) bordering V, D or J exons. We demonstrate that the DNA composition of flanking coding positions, particularly poly(A) or poly(T) stretches at one or both RSS, diminishes V(D)J recombination up to 100-fold. Positionally correct cleavages occur in the inhibited reactions, since the junctions formed show the same frequency of precision as uninhibited reactions. Open/shut cleavage/rejoining is not increased at a normal RSS in substrates containing inhibitory A/T homopolymers versus random sequence at a second RSS. Thus recombinase action at both cleavage sites is severely disrupted by modified coding sequences.

Nuclear topoisomerase I and DNase activities in rat diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatoma, in regenerating and fetal liver.

DNase activity in the presence of Ca2+ + Mg2+, Mg2+ alone, Mn2+ alone, or EDTA, and topoisomerase I activity were measured in nuclear extracts of diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatomas, regenerating, fetal, and normal rat livers. In hepatoma tissue, the Ca/Mg-dependent DNase activity was lower than in normal tissue and nearly the same as in fetal liver. In the poorly differentiated hepatomas, Mn-dependent DNase activity was higher than in both moderately and well differentiated ones and than in normal liver tissue. The activity of topoisomerase I in hepatomas and in regenerating liver was lower than in normal liver tissue.

Complementation of the ionizing radiation sensitivity, DNA end binding, and V(D)J recombination defects of double-strand break repair mutants by the p86 Ku autoantigen.

Two ionizing radiation-sensitive (IRs) and DNA double-strand break (DSB) mutants, sxi-3 and sxi-2, were shown to be severely deficient in a DNA end binding activity, similar to a previously described activity of the Ku autoantigen, correlating with the xrs (XRCC5) mutations. Cell fusions with xrs-6, another IRs, DSB repair-deficient cell line, defined these sxi mutants in the XRCC5 group. sxi-3 cells have low expression levels of the p86Ku mRNA. Introduction of the Ku p86 gene, but not the p70 Ku gene, complemented the IRs, DNA end binding, and variable (diversity) joining [V(D)J] recombination signal and coding junction deficiencies of sxi-3. Thus, the p86 Ku gene product is essential for DSB repair and V(D)J recombination.