Project description:DNA-PKcs is a critical component of the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway, playing a role in the re-ligation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) generated by RAG1/2 during V(D)J recombination in antigen loci. When NHEJ is deficient, DSBs can be repaired through alternative end joining (A-EJ). In this study, we investigated the consequences of DNA-PKcs deletion on V-J recombination at the IgK antigen locus. Our results reveal that DNA-PKcs deletion leads to inefficient V-J recombination, exhibiting phenotypes such as reduced efficiency, increased end resection, and decreased micro-insertions in the repair pattern. These findings are consistent with previously reported functions of Ku70, another key player in NHEJ. However, unlike Ku70, additional deletion of DNA-PKcs does not restore the efficiency of repair in the absence of Lig4. Instead, it reduces both end resection and microhomology-mediated repair. These observations highlight the context-dependent role of DNA-PKcs in end processing. The presence or absence of Lig4 appears to influence the function of DNA-PKcs, further emphasizing the intricate interplay between repair factors in the DNA damage response. Overall, our findings provide insights into the distinct functions of DNA-PKcs and Ku70 in V(D)J recombination and underscore the complex regulatory mechanisms underlying repair efficiency in different genetic backgrounds.
Project description:B lymphopoiesis requires that immunoglobulin genes be accessible to RAG1-RAG2 recombinase. However, the RAG proteins bind widely to open chromatin, which suggests that additional mechanisms must restrict RAG-mediated DNA cleavage. Here we show that developmental downregulation of interleukin 7 (IL-7)-receptor signaling in small pre-B cells induced expression of the bromodomain-family member BRWD1, which was recruited to a specific epigenetic landscape at Igk dictated by pre–BCR-dependent Erk activation. BRWD1 enhanced RAG recruitment, increased gene accessibility and positioned nucleosomes 5? to each J? recombination signal sequence. BRWD1 thus targets recombination to Igk and places recombination within the context of signaling cascades that control B cell development. Our findings represent a paradigm in which,at any particular antigen-receptor locus, specialized mechanisms enforce lineage- and stage-specific recombination. ChIP-seq for 1 transcription factor and 2 histone modifications in flow purified mouse small pre-B cells. ATAC-seq and RNA-seq in WT and Brwd-Mut mouse flow purified small pre-B cells.
Project description:B lymphopoiesis requires that immunoglobulin genes be accessible to RAG1-RAG2 recombinase. However, the RAG proteins bind widely to open chromatin, which suggests that additional mechanisms must restrict RAG-mediated DNA cleavage. Here we show that developmental downregulation of interleukin 7 (IL-7)-receptor signaling in small pre-B cells induced expression of the bromodomain-family member BRWD1, which was recruited to a specific epigenetic landscape at Igk dictated by pre–BCR-dependent Erk activation. BRWD1 enhanced RAG recruitment, increased gene accessibility and positioned nucleosomes 5′ to each Jκ recombination signal sequence. BRWD1 thus targets recombination to Igk and places recombination within the context of signaling cascades that control B cell development. Our findings represent a paradigm in which,at any particular antigen-receptor locus, specialized mechanisms enforce lineage- and stage-specific recombination.
Project description:In B lymphopoiesis, activation of the pre-B cell antigen receptor (pre-BCR) is associated with both cell cycle exit and Igk recombination. Yet, how the pre-BCR mediates these functions remains unclear. Herein, we demonstrate that the pre-BCR initiates a feed-forward IRF4-CXC Receptor 4 (CXCR4) amplification loop. ERK activation by CXCR4 then directs the development of small and immature B cells including orchestrating cell cycle exit, pre-BCR repression, Igk recombination and BCR expression. In contrast, escape from IL-7 and pre-BCR expression have only modest effects on B cell developmental transcriptional and epigenetic programs. These data demonstrate a direct and central role for CXCR4 in orchestrating late B cell lymphopoiesis. Furthermore, in the context of previous findings, our data provide a three-receptor system sufficient to recapitulate the essential features of B lymphopoiesis in vitro.
Project description:The catalytic subunit of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) is a classical nonhomologous end-joining (cNHEJ) factor. Loss of DNA-PKcs diminished mature B cell class switch recombination (CSR) to other isotypes, but not IgG1. Here, we show that expression of the kinase-dead DNA-PKcs (DNA-PKcsKD/KD) severely compromises CSR to IgG1. High-throughput sequencing analyses of CSR junctions reveal frequent accumulation of nonproductive interchromosomal translocations, inversions, and extensive end resection in DNA-PKcsKD/KD, but not DNA-PKcs-/- B cells. Meanwhile, the residual joints from DNA-PKcsKD/KDcells and the efficient Sμ-Sγ1 junctions from DNA-PKcs-/- B cells both display similar preferences for small (2–6 nt) microhomologies (MH). In DNA-PKcs-/- cells, Sμ-Sγ1 joints are more resistant to inversions and extensive resection than Sμ-Se and Sμ-Sμ joints, providing a mechanism for the isotype-specific CSR defects. Together, our findings identify a kinase-dependent role of DNA-PKcs in suppressing MH-mediated end joining and a structural role of DNA-PKcs protein in the orientation of CSR.
Project description:The classical non-homologous end-joining (cNHEJ) pathway is a major DNA double-strand break repair pathway in mammalian cells and is required for lymphocyte development and maturation. The DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) is a cNHEJ factor that encompasses the Ku70-Ku80 (KU) heterodimer and the large catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs). In mouse models, loss of DNA-PKcs (DNA-PKcs-/-) abrogates end-processing (e.g., hairpin-opening), but not end-ligation, while expression of the kinase-dead DNA-PKcs protein (DNA-PKcsKD/KD) abrogates end-ligation, suggesting a kinases-dependent structural function of DNA-PKcs during cNHEJ. Lymphocyte development is abolished in DNA-PKcs-/- and DNA-PKcsKD/KD mice due to the requirement for both hairpin-opening and end-ligation during V(D)J recombination. DNA-PKcs itself is the best-characterized substrate of DNA-PK. The S2056-cluster is the best characterized auto-phosphorylation site on human DNA-PKcs. Here we show that radiation can induce phosphorylation of murine DNA-PKcs at the corresponding S2053 and generated knockin mouse models with alanine- (DNA-PKcsPQR) or phospho-mimetic aspartate (DNA-PKcsSD) substitutions at the S2053 cluster. Despite moderate radiation sensitivity in the DNA-PKcsPQR/PQR fibroblasts and lymphocytes, both DNA-PKcsPQR/PQR and DNA-PKcsSD/SD mice retain normal kinase activity, and undergo efficient V(D)J recombination and class switch recombination, indicating that phosphorylation at the S2053-cluster of mouse DNA-PKcs (corresponding to S2056 of human DNA-PKcs), although important for radiation resistance, is dispensable for the end-ligation and hairpin-opening function of DNA-PK essential for lymphocyte development.
Project description:Two DNA repair pathways, non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and alternative end joining (A-EJ), are involved in V(D)J recombination and chromosome translocation. Previous studies reported distinct repair mechanisms for chromosome translocation, with NHEJ predominantly involved in human and A-EJ in mice. NHEJ depends on DNA-PKcs, a critical partner in synapsis formation and downstream component activation. While DNA-PKcs inhibition promotes chromosome translocations harboring microhomologies in mice, its synonymous effect in human is not known. We find partial DNA-PKcs inhibition in human cell lines leads to increased genome-wide translocations composed mostly of direct joints, indicating the continued involvement of dampened NHEJ in these processes. In contrast, complete DNA-PKcs inhibition and genetic inhibition DNA-PKcs kinase domain substantially increased microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ), thus bridging the two different translocation mechanisms between human and mice. Similar to a previous study on Ku70 deletion, DNA-PKcs deletion in G1/G0-phase mouse pro-B cell lines, impair the recombination of RAG1/2-mediated DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). This DNA-PKcs-deficient repair mechanism exhibited reduced V(D)J recombination efficiency, increased end resection, decreased polymerase-mediated insertions, loss of recombination fidelity and generated relatively higher rates of chromosome translocation as a consequence of dysregulated coding and signal end joining. Our study underscores DNA-PKcs in suppressing illegitimate chromosome rearrangement in both species.
Project description:Extended loop extrusion across the immunoglobulin heavy-chain (Igh) locus facilitates VH-DJH recombination in pro-B cells by aligning the VH and DJH segments for RAG-mediated cleavage. This cohesin-mediated process, resulting in global changes of the chromosome architecture in pro-B cells, depends on a 3-fold downregulation of the cohesin-release factor Wapl by Pax5-induced repression of the Wapl promoter. Here, we demonstrate that chromatin looping and VK-JK recombination at the Igk locus was insensitive to a 3-fold Wapl increase in pre-B cells. Given the equally low Wapl mRNA levels in pro-B and pre-B cells, the Wapl protein was unexpectedly expressed at a 2.2-fold higher level in pre-B cells compared to pro-B cells, which resulted in a distinct chromosomal architecture with normalized loop sizes in pre-B cells. High-resolution analysis of the Igk locus identified multiple internal loops, which likely juxtapose VK and JK elements to facilitate VK-JK recombination. The higher Wapl expression in Igm-transgenic pre-B cells prevented extended loop extrusion at the Igh locus, leading to recombination of only the 6 most 3’ proximal VH genes and to allelic exclusion of all other VH genes in pre-B cells. Hence, the different chromosomal architectures in pro-B and pre-B cells forced the Igh and Igk loci to assume distinct folding principles to undergo V gene recombination.
Project description:The DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), which is composed of the KU heterodimer and the large catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs), is a classical non-homologous end-joining (cNHEJ) factor. Naïve B cells undergo class switch recombination (CSR) to generate antibodies with different isotypes by joining two DNA double-strand breaks at different switching regions via the cNHEJ pathway. DNA-PK and the cNHEJ pathway play important roles in the DNA repair phase of CSR. To initiate cNHEJ, KU binds to DNA ends and recruits and activates DNA-PK. Activated DNA-PK phosphorylates DNA-PKcs at the S2056 and T2609 clusters. Loss of T2609 cluster phosphorylation increases radiation sensitivity but whether T2609 phosphorylation has a role in physiological DNA repair remains elusive. Using the DNA-PKcs5A mouse model carrying alanine substitutions at the T2609 cluster, here we show that loss of T2609 phosphorylation of DNA-PKcs does not affect the CSR efficiency. Yet, the CSR junctions recovered from DNA-PKcs5A/5A B cells reveal increased chromosomal translocations, extensive use of distal switch regions (consistent with end-resection), and preferential usage of micro-homology – all signs of the alternative end-joining pathway. Thus, these results uncover a role of DNA-PKcs T2609 phosphorylation in promoting cNHEJ repair pathway choice during CSR.
Project description:In developing B lymphocytes, V(D)J recombination assembles IgH and Igk variable region exons from hundreds of gene segments clustered across mega-base Igh and Igk loci. V, D, and J segments are flanked by conserved recombination signal sequences (RSSs) that target RAG endonuclease. RAG orchestrates Igh V(D)J recombination upon capturing a JH-RSS within the JH-RSS-based recombination center (RC). JH-RSS orientation programs RAG to scan upstream D- and VH-containing chromatin linearly presented by cohesin-mediated loop extrusion. During Igh scanning, RAG robustly utilizes only D- or VH-RSSs in convergent ("deletional") orientation with JH-RSSs. However, for Vk-to-Jk joining, RAG utilizes Vk-RSSs from deletional- and inversional-oriented clusters, inconsistent with linear scanning. Here, we elucidate the Vk-to-Jk joining mechanism. Igk undergoes robust primary and secondary rearrangements, which confounds scanning assays. Thus, we engineered cells to undergo only primary Vk-to-Jk rearrangements and found that RAG-scanning from the primary Jk-RC terminates just 8kb upstream within the CTCF-Site-based Sis element. While Sis and the Jk-RC barely interacted with the Vk locus, the CTCF-site-based Cer element, 4kb upstream of Sis, interacted with various loop-extrusion impediments across the locus. Like VH-locus inversion, DJH inversion abrogated VH-to-DJH joining; yet Vk-locus or Jk inversion allowed robust Vk-to-Jk joining. Together, these experiments implicated loop extrusion in bringing Vks near Cer for short-range diffusion-mediated capture by RC-based RAG. To elucidate key mechanistic elements for diffusional V(D)J recombination in Igk versus Igh, we assayed Vk-to-JH and D-to-Jk rearrangements in hybrid Igh-Igk loci generated by targeted chromosomal translocations, and pinpointed remarkably strong Vk and Jk RSSs. Indeed, RSS replacements in hybrid or normal Igk and Igh loci confirmed ability of Igk versus Igh RSSs to promote robust diffusional joining. We propose that Igk evolved strong RSSs to mediate diffusional Vk-to-Jk joining; while Igh evolved weaker RSSs requisite for modulating VH joining by RAG scanning impediments.