Skip to main content
PMC home page
Molecular and Cellular Biology logoLink to Molecular and Cellular Biology
. 1992 Jun;12(6):2464–2474. doi: 10.1128/mcb.12.6.2464

The role and fate of DNA ends for homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells.

P Hasty 1, J Rivera-Pérez 1, A Bradley 1
PMCID: PMC364439  PMID: 1588950

Abstract

We have analyzed the gene-targeting frequencies and recombination products generated by a series of vectors which target the hprt locus in embryonic stem cells and found the existence of alternative pathways that depend on the location of the double-strand break within the vector. A double-strand break in the targeting homology was found to increase the targeting frequency compared with a double-strand break at the edge of or outside the target homology; this finding agrees with the double-strand break repair model proposed for Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although a double-strand break in the homology is important for efficient targeting, observations reported here suggest that the terminal ends are not always directly involved in the initial recombination event. Short terminal heterologous sequences which block the homologous ends of the vector may be incorporated into the target locus. A modification of the double-strand break repair model is described to account for this observation.

Full text

PDF
2464

Images in this article

2468Image
on p.2468
2469Image
on p.2469
2471Image
on p.2471

Selected References

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

  1. Anderson R. A., Eliason S. L. Recombination of homologous DNA fragments transfected into mammalian cells occurs predominantly by terminal pairing. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Sep;6(9):3246–3252. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.9.3246. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brenner D. A., Smigocki A. C., Camerini-Otero R. D. Double-strand gap repair results in homologous recombination in mouse L cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Mar;83(6):1762–1766. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.6.1762. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brenner D. A., Smigocki A. C., Camerini-Otero R. D. Effect of insertions, deletions, and double-strand breaks on homologous recombination in mouse L cells. Mol Cell Biol. 1985 Apr;5(4):684–691. doi: 10.1128/mcb.5.4.684. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Capecchi M. R. Altering the genome by homologous recombination. Science. 1989 Jun 16;244(4910):1288–1292. doi: 10.1126/science.2660260. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chakrabarti S., Seidman M. M. Intramolecular recombination between transfected repeated sequences in mammalian cells is nonconservative. Mol Cell Biol. 1986 Jul;6(7):2520–2526. doi: 10.1128/mcb.6.7.2520. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hasty P., Ramírez-Solis R., Krumlauf R., Bradley A. Introduction of a subtle mutation into the Hox-2.6 locus in embryonic stem cells. Nature. 1991 Mar 21;350(6315):243–246. doi: 10.1038/350243a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hasty P., Rivera-Pérez J., Bradley A. The length of homology required for gene targeting in embryonic stem cells. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Nov;11(11):5586–5591. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.11.5586. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hasty P., Rivera-Pérez J., Chang C., Bradley A. Target frequency and integration pattern for insertion and replacement vectors in embryonic stem cells. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Sep;11(9):4509–4517. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.9.4509. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Jasin M., Berg P. Homologous integration in mammalian cells without target gene selection. Genes Dev. 1988 Nov;2(11):1353–1363. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.11.1353. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kucherlapati R. S., Eves E. M., Song K. Y., Morse B. S., Smithies O. Homologous recombination between plasmids in mammalian cells can be enhanced by treatment of input DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 May;81(10):3153–3157. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.10.3153. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lin F. L., Sperle K., Sternberg N. Intermolecular recombination between DNAs introduced into mouse L cells is mediated by a nonconservative pathway that leads to crossover products. Mol Cell Biol. 1990 Jan;10(1):103–112. doi: 10.1128/mcb.10.1.103. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lin F. L., Sperle K., Sternberg N. Model for homologous recombination during transfer of DNA into mouse L cells: role for DNA ends in the recombination process. Mol Cell Biol. 1984 Jun;4(6):1020–1034. doi: 10.1128/mcb.4.6.1020. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lin F. L., Sperle K., Sternberg N. Repair of double-stranded DNA breaks by homologous DNA fragments during transfer of DNA into mouse L cells. Mol Cell Biol. 1990 Jan;10(1):113–119. doi: 10.1128/mcb.10.1.113. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Mansour S. L., Thomas K. R., Capecchi M. R. Disruption of the proto-oncogene int-2 in mouse embryo-derived stem cells: a general strategy for targeting mutations to non-selectable genes. Nature. 1988 Nov 24;336(6197):348–352. doi: 10.1038/336348a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mansour S. L., Thomas K. R., Deng C. X., Capecchi M. R. Introduction of a lacZ reporter gene into the mouse int-2 locus by homologous recombination. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Oct;87(19):7688–7692. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.19.7688. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Maryon E., Carroll D. Characterization of recombination intermediates from DNA injected into Xenopus laevis oocytes: evidence for a nonconservative mechanism of homologous recombination. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Jun;11(6):3278–3287. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.6.3278. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Maryon E., Carroll D. Involvement of single-stranded tails in homologous recombination of DNA injected into Xenopus laevis oocyte nuclei. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Jun;11(6):3268–3277. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.6.3268. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. McMahon A. P., Bradley A. The Wnt-1 (int-1) proto-oncogene is required for development of a large region of the mouse brain. Cell. 1990 Sep 21;62(6):1073–1085. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90385-r. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Melton D. W., Konecki D. S., Brennand J., Caskey C. T. Structure, expression, and mutation of the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Apr;81(7):2147–2151. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.7.2147. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Meselson M. S., Radding C. M. A general model for genetic recombination. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Jan;72(1):358–361. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.1.358. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Murnane J. P., Yezzi M. J., Young B. R. Recombination events during integration of transfected DNA into normal human cells. Nucleic Acids Res. 1990 May 11;18(9):2733–2738. doi: 10.1093/nar/18.9.2733. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Orr-Weaver T. L., Szostak J. W., Rothstein R. J. Yeast transformation: a model system for the study of recombination. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Oct;78(10):6354–6358. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.10.6354. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Pennington S. L., Wilson J. H. Gene targeting in Chinese hamster ovary cells is conservative. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Nov 1;88(21):9498–9502. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.21.9498. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Resnick M. A. The repair of double-strand breaks in DNA; a model involving recombination. J Theor Biol. 1976 Jun;59(1):97–106. doi: 10.1016/s0022-5193(76)80025-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Schultes N. P., Szostak J. W. A poly(dA.dT) tract is a component of the recombination initiation site at the ARG4 locus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Jan;11(1):322–328. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.1.322. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Seidman M. M. Intermolecular homologous recombination between transfected sequences in mammalian cells is primarily nonconservative. Mol Cell Biol. 1987 Oct;7(10):3561–3565. doi: 10.1128/mcb.7.10.3561. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Shulman M. J., Nissen L., Collins C. Homologous recombination in hybridoma cells: dependence on time and fragment length. Mol Cell Biol. 1990 Sep;10(9):4466–4472. doi: 10.1128/mcb.10.9.4466. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Smithies O., Gregg R. G., Boggs S. S., Koralewski M. A., Kucherlapati R. S. Insertion of DNA sequences into the human chromosomal beta-globin locus by homologous recombination. Nature. 1985 Sep 19;317(6034):230–234. doi: 10.1038/317230a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Song K. Y., Chekuri L., Rauth S., Ehrlich S., Kucherlapati R. Effect of double-strand breaks on homologous recombination in mammalian cells and extracts. Mol Cell Biol. 1985 Dec;5(12):3331–3336. doi: 10.1128/mcb.5.12.3331. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Soriano P., Montgomery C., Geske R., Bradley A. Targeted disruption of the c-src proto-oncogene leads to osteopetrosis in mice. Cell. 1991 Feb 22;64(4):693–702. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90499-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Sun H., Treco D., Szostak J. W. Extensive 3'-overhanging, single-stranded DNA associated with the meiosis-specific double-strand breaks at the ARG4 recombination initiation site. Cell. 1991 Mar 22;64(6):1155–1161. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90270-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Szostak J. W., Orr-Weaver T. L., Rothstein R. J., Stahl F. W. The double-strand-break repair model for recombination. Cell. 1983 May;33(1):25–35. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90331-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Thomas K. R., Capecchi M. R. Site-directed mutagenesis by gene targeting in mouse embryo-derived stem cells. Cell. 1987 Nov 6;51(3):503–512. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90646-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Valancius V., Smithies O. Double-strand gap repair in a mammalian gene targeting reaction. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Sep;11(9):4389–4397. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.9.4389. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Wake C. T., Vernaleone F., Wilson J. H. Topological requirements for homologous recombination among DNA molecules transfected into mammalian cells. Mol Cell Biol. 1985 Aug;5(8):2080–2089. doi: 10.1128/mcb.5.8.2080. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Waldman A. S., Liskay R. M. Dependence of intrachromosomal recombination in mammalian cells on uninterrupted homology. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 Dec;8(12):5350–5357. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.12.5350. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Waldman A. S., Liskay R. M. Differential effects of base-pair mismatch on intrachromosomal versus extrachromosomal recombination in mouse cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Aug;84(15):5340–5344. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.15.5340. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Wilson J. H., Berget P. B., Pipas J. M. Somatic cells efficiently join unrelated DNA segments end-to-end. Mol Cell Biol. 1982 Oct;2(10):1258–1269. doi: 10.1128/mcb.2.10.1258. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Zheng H., Hasty P., Brenneman M. A., Grompe M., Gibbs R. A., Wilson J. H., Bradley A. Fidelity of targeted recombination in human fibroblasts and murine embryonic stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Sep 15;88(18):8067–8071. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.18.8067. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Zheng H., Wilson J. H. Gene targeting in normal and amplified cell lines. Nature. 1990 Mar 8;344(6262):170–173. doi: 10.1038/344170a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES