Skip to main content
PMC home page
Molecular and Cellular Biology logoLink to Molecular and Cellular Biology
. 1996 Aug;16(8):4189–4198. doi: 10.1128/mcb.16.8.4189

Mutations in two Ku homologs define a DNA end-joining repair pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

G T Milne 1, S Jin 1, K B Shannon 1, D T Weaver 1
PMCID: PMC231416  PMID: 8754818

Abstract

DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair in mammalian cells is dependent on the Ku DNA binding protein complex. However, the mechanism of Ku-mediated repair is not understood. We discovered a Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene (KU80) that is structurally similar to the 80-kDa mammalian Ku subunit. Ku8O associates with the product of the HDF1 gene, forming the major DNA end-binding complex of yeast cells. DNA end binding was absent in ku80delta, hdf1delta, or ku80delta hdf1delta strains. Antisera specific for epitope tags on Ku80 and Hdf1 were used in supershift and immunodepletion experiments to show that both proteins are directly involved in DNA end binding. In vivo, the efficiency of two DNA end-joining processes were reduced >10-fold in ku8Odelta, hdfldelta, or ku80delta hdf1delta strains: repair of linear plasmid DNA and repair of an HO endonuclease-induced chromosomal DSB. These DNA-joining defects correlated with DNA damage sensitivity, because ku80delta and hdf1delta strains were also sensitive to methylmethane sulfonate (MMS). Ku-dependent repair is distinct from homologous recombination, because deletion of KU80 and HDF1 increased the MMS sensitivity of rad52delta. Interestingly, rad5Odelta, also shown here to be defective in end joining, was epistatic with Ku mutations for MMS repair and end joining. Therefore, Ku and Rad50 participate in an end-joining pathway that is distinct from homologous recombinational repair. Yeast DNA end joining is functionally analogous to DSB repair and V(D)J recombination in mammalian cells.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (559.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ajimura M., Leem S. H., Ogawa H. Identification of new genes required for meiotic recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics. 1993 Jan;133(1):51–66. doi: 10.1093/genetics/133.1.51. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Alani E., Cao L., Kleckner N. A method for gene disruption that allows repeated use of URA3 selection in the construction of multiply disrupted yeast strains. Genetics. 1987 Aug;116(4):541–545. doi: 10.1534/genetics.112.541.test. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Anderson C. W., Lees-Miller S. P. The nuclear serine/threonine protein kinase DNA-PK. Crit Rev Eukaryot Gene Expr. 1992;2(4):283–314. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Baudin A., Ozier-Kalogeropoulos O., Denouel A., Lacroute F., Cullin C. A simple and efficient method for direct gene deletion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nucleic Acids Res. 1993 Jul 11;21(14):3329–3330. doi: 10.1093/nar/21.14.3329. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Blier P. R., Griffith A. J., Craft J., Hardin J. A. Binding of Ku protein to DNA. Measurement of affinity for ends and demonstration of binding to nicks. J Biol Chem. 1993 Apr 5;268(10):7594–7601. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Blunt T., Finnie N. J., Taccioli G. E., Smith G. C., Demengeot J., Gottlieb T. M., Mizuta R., Varghese A. J., Alt F. W., Jeggo P. A. Defective DNA-dependent protein kinase activity is linked to V(D)J recombination and DNA repair defects associated with the murine scid mutation. Cell. 1995 Mar 10;80(5):813–823. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(95)90360-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Boubnov N. V., Hall K. T., Wills Z., Lee S. E., He D. M., Benjamin D. M., Pulaski C. R., Band H., Reeves W., Hendrickson E. A. 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. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995 Jan 31;92(3):890–894. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.3.890. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Boubnov N. V., Weaver D. T. scid cells are deficient in Ku and replication protein A phosphorylation by the DNA-dependent protein kinase. Mol Cell Biol. 1995 Oct;15(10):5700–5706. doi: 10.1128/mcb.15.10.5700. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Chepurnaya O. V., Kozhin S. A., Peshekhonov V. T., Korolev V. G. RAD58 (XRS4)--a new gene in the RAD52 epistasis group. Curr Genet. 1995 Aug;28(3):274–279. doi: 10.1007/BF00309787. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Falzon M., Fewell J. W., Kuff E. L. EBP-80, a transcription factor closely resembling the human autoantigen Ku, recognizes single- to double-strand transitions in DNA. J Biol Chem. 1993 May 15;268(14):10546–10552. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Feldmann H., Winnacker E. L. A putative homologue of the human autoantigen Ku from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biol Chem. 1993 Jun 15;268(17):12895–12900. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gietz D., St Jean A., Woods R. A., Schiestl R. H. Improved method for high efficiency transformation of intact yeast cells. Nucleic Acids Res. 1992 Mar 25;20(6):1425–1425. doi: 10.1093/nar/20.6.1425. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hartley K. O., Gell D., Smith G. C., Zhang H., Divecha N., Connelly M. A., Admon A., Lees-Miller S. P., Anderson C. W., Jackson S. P. DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit: a relative of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and the ataxia telangiectasia gene product. Cell. 1995 Sep 8;82(5):849–856. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(95)90482-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Herskowitz I., Jensen R. E. Putting the HO gene to work: practical uses for mating-type switching. Methods Enzymol. 1991;194:132–146. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(91)94011-z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hill J., Donald K. A., Griffiths D. E., Donald G. DMSO-enhanced whole cell yeast transformation. Nucleic Acids Res. 1991 Oct 25;19(20):5791–5791. doi: 10.1093/nar/19.20.5791. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Ivanov E. L., Korolev V. G., Fabre F. XRS2, a DNA repair gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is needed for meiotic recombination. Genetics. 1992 Nov;132(3):651–664. doi: 10.1093/genetics/132.3.651. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Johzuka K., Ogawa H. Interaction of Mre11 and Rad50: two proteins required for DNA repair and meiosis-specific double-strand break formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics. 1995 Apr;139(4):1521–1532. doi: 10.1093/genetics/139.4.1521. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Kirchgessner C. U., Patil C. K., Evans J. W., Cuomo C. A., Fried L. M., Carter T., Oettinger M. A., Brown J. M. DNA-dependent kinase (p350) as a candidate gene for the murine SCID defect. Science. 1995 Feb 24;267(5201):1178–1183. doi: 10.1126/science.7855601. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Kramer K. M., Brock J. A., Bloom K., Moore J. K., Haber J. E. Two different types of double-strand breaks in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are repaired by similar RAD52-independent, nonhomologous recombination events. Mol Cell Biol. 1994 Feb;14(2):1293–1301. doi: 10.1128/mcb.14.2.1293. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Lees-Miller S. P., Godbout R., Chan D. W., Weinfeld M., Day R. S., 3rd, Barron G. M., Allalunis-Turner J. Absence of p350 subunit of DNA-activated protein kinase from a radiosensitive human cell line. Science. 1995 Feb 24;267(5201):1183–1185. doi: 10.1126/science.7855602. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Mezard C., Nicolas A. Homologous, homeologous, and illegitimate repair of double-strand breaks during transformation of a wild-type strain and a rad52 mutant strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 1994 Feb;14(2):1278–1292. doi: 10.1128/mcb.14.2.1278. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Milne G. T., Weaver D. T. Dominant negative alleles of RAD52 reveal a DNA repair/recombination complex including Rad51 and Rad52. Genes Dev. 1993 Sep;7(9):1755–1765. doi: 10.1101/gad.7.9.1755. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Mimori T., Hardin J. A. Mechanism of interaction between Ku protein and DNA. J Biol Chem. 1986 Aug 5;261(22):10375–10379. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Morozov V. E., Falzon M., Anderson C. W., Kuff E. L. DNA-dependent protein kinase is activated by nicks and larger single-stranded gaps. J Biol Chem. 1994 Jun 17;269(24):16684–16688. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Paillard S., Strauss F. Analysis of the mechanism of interaction of simian Ku protein with DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1991 Oct 25;19(20):5619–5624. doi: 10.1093/nar/19.20.5619. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Peterson S. R., Kurimasa A., Oshimura M., Dynan W. S., Bradbury E. M., Chen D. J. Loss of the catalytic subunit of the DNA-dependent protein kinase in DNA double-strand-break-repair mutant mammalian cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995 Apr 11;92(8):3171–3174. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.8.3171. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Rathmell W. K., Chu G. A DNA end-binding factor involved in double-strand break repair and V(D)J recombination. Mol Cell Biol. 1994 Jul;14(7):4741–4748. doi: 10.1128/mcb.14.7.4741. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Rathmell W. K., Chu G. Involvement of the Ku autoantigen in the cellular response to DNA double-strand breaks. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1994 Aug 2;91(16):7623–7627. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.16.7623. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Raymond W. E., Kleckner N. RAD50 protein of S.cerevisiae exhibits ATP-dependent DNA binding. Nucleic Acids Res. 1993 Aug 11;21(16):3851–3856. doi: 10.1093/nar/21.16.3851. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Rothstein R. Targeting, disruption, replacement, and allele rescue: integrative DNA transformation in yeast. Methods Enzymol. 1991;194:281–301. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(91)94022-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Schiestl R. H., Petes T. D. Integration of DNA fragments by illegitimate recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Sep 1;88(17):7585–7589. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.17.7585. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Schiestl R. H., Zhu J., Petes T. D. Effect of mutations in genes affecting homologous recombination on restriction enzyme-mediated and illegitimate recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 1994 Jul;14(7):4493–4500. doi: 10.1128/mcb.14.7.4493. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Sharples G. J., Leach D. R. Structural and functional similarities between the SbcCD proteins of Escherichia coli and the RAD50 and MRE11 (RAD32) recombination and repair proteins of yeast. Mol Microbiol. 1995 Sep;17(6):1215–1217. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1995.mmi_17061215_1.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Siede W., Friedl A. A., Dianova I., Eckardt-Schupp F., Friedberg E. C. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ku autoantigen homologue affects radiosensitivity only in the absence of homologous recombination. Genetics. 1996 Jan;142(1):91–102. doi: 10.1093/genetics/142.1.91. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Sikorski R. S., Hieter P. A system of shuttle vectors and yeast host strains designed for efficient manipulation of DNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics. 1989 May;122(1):19–27. doi: 10.1093/genetics/122.1.19. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Smider V., Rathmell W. K., Lieber M. R., Chu G. Restoration of X-ray resistance and V(D)J recombination in mutant cells by Ku cDNA. Science. 1994 Oct 14;266(5183):288–291. doi: 10.1126/science.7939667. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Taccioli G. E., Gottlieb T. M., Blunt T., Priestley A., Demengeot J., Mizuta R., Lehmann A. R., Alt F. W., Jackson S. P., Jeggo P. A. Ku80: product of the XRCC5 gene and its role in DNA repair and V(D)J recombination. Science. 1994 Sep 2;265(5177):1442–1445. doi: 10.1126/science.8073286. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Tsukamoto Y., Kato J., Ikeda H. Effects of mutations of RAD50, RAD51, RAD52, and related genes on illegitimate recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics. 1996 Feb;142(2):383–391. doi: 10.1093/genetics/142.2.383. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Weaver D. T. What to do at an end: DNA double-strand-break repair. Trends Genet. 1995 Oct;11(10):388–392. doi: 10.1016/s0168-9525(00)89121-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Molecular and Cellular Biology are provided here courtesy of Taylor & Francis

RESOURCES