| Literature DB >> 17142237 |
Ephraim S Tang1, Alberto Martin.
Abstract
Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) likely initiates immunoglobulin gene-conversion (GC) by deaminating cytidines within the V-region of chicken B-cells. However, the intervening DNA lesion required to initiate GC remains elusive. GC could be initiated by a single strand break or a double strand break (DSB). To distinguish between these possibilities, we examined GC in the chicken DT40 B cell line deficient in non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). It is known that the NHEJ and homologous recombination DNA repair pathways compete for DSBs. In light of this, if a DSB is the major intermediate, deficiency in NHEJ should result in increased levels of GC. Here we show that DNA-PKcs(-/-/-) and Ku70(-/-) DT40 cells had 5- to 10-fold higher levels of GC relative to wildtype DT40 as measured by surface IgM reversion and sequencing of the V-region. These data suggest that a DSB is the major DNA lesion that initiates GC.Entities:
Mesh:
Substances:
Year: 2006 PMID: 17142237 PMCID: PMC1669771 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkl830
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Nucleic Acids Res ISSN: 0305-1048 Impact factor: 16.971
Figure 1Western blot analysis for AID. WT, AID−/−, DNA–PKcs−/−/− and Ku70−/− DT40 cells were analyzed by western blot for AID expression levels and β-Actin, as a loading control. Cell lysates were generated from founder populations of cells used for subsequent subcloning experiments.
Figure 2IgM Reversion of sIgM− NHEJ deficient DT40 cells. (A) Representative histograms of IgM surface expression on subclones expanded for 18 days in culture. AID−/−, WT, DNA–PKcs−/−/− and Ku70−/− DT40 cell lines containing a frameshift in the Vλ-region were subcloned and expanded in culture. Cultures were stained with FITC-conjugated anti-chicken IgM and analyzed by flow cytometry. Gating for positive revertants was set at 8-times above the negative peak. Numbers indicate the percentage of IgM positive cells in each histogram. Three histograms are shown for each cell line that represent cultures that were low, medium and high for IgM+ cells. (B) Fluctuation analysis of IgM reversion for AID−/−, WT, DNA–PKcs−/−/− and Ku70−/− DT40 cell lines. Multiple subclones from each cell line were expanded and analyzed for IgM expression at 18 and 30 days. Average reversion frequency is denoted by a horizontal bar. Statistics are shown (see Materials and Methods) comparing the NHEJ-deficient cells to WT DT40 cells for the respective time points. Numbers beside symbols indicate clone number and correlate to sequence data shown in Figure 3, Table 1, and Supplementary Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 3Summary of gene conversion sequence data. (A) Vλ regions from WT and DNA–PKcs−/−/− DT40 subclones that were maintained in cell culture for 1 month. The DT40 clones analyzed for sequencing correspond to those shown in Figure 2B. Each line represents identical sequences of the Vλ region. Numbers to the right of each line indicates the number of times that sequence was observed. Symbols on and above the line indicate deviations from the founder sequence. Black circles: point mutations; white circles: ambiguous mutations; white bars: deletions; black bars: minimum GC tracts, grey bars: maximum GC tracts. Numbers above each tract indicate pseudogene donor, slashes between numbers indicate multiple possible donors. At the bottom is the scale in nucleotides, with the CDRs shown as labeled bars above the scale. 0 = the first nucleotide of the second exon. (B) Same as A, except sequences were obtained from IgM+ sorted WT, DNA–PKcs−/−/− and Ku70−/− cells.
GC frequencies in DT40 cells determined by sequencing analysis.
| Cell type | Clonea | GC eventsb | Point mutationsb | Deletionsb | Ambiguousb | Clones sequenced | GC frequency | SHM frequencyc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WT | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 33 | 0.0d | 6.7 |
| 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 3.9d | 17.1 | |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 0.0d | 8.5 | |
| DNA–PKcs−/−/ − | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 6.9d | 15.3 |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 0.0d | 14.8 | |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 49 | 2.0d | <4.5 | |
| WT sIgM+f | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 93.3/97.4e | 14.8 |
| 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 92.9/96.4e | <15.9 | |
| 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 91.7/95e | <18.5 | |
| DNA–PKcs−/−/− sIgM+f | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 20/79.1e | 22.2 |
| 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 72.2/79.8e | <12.3 | |
| 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 100/98.4e | 12.3 | |
| Ku70−/− sIgM+f | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 88.2/98.3e | 11.7 |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 100/99.1e | <13.1 | |
| 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 100/95.3e | <11.7 |
aDT40 clones analyzed for sequencing correspond to those shown in Figure 2B. Sequence data shown in Supplementary Figure 1 and illustration of this data in Figure 3, together with tract lengths and Pseudo gene usage.
bOnly unique GC events, point mutations, deletions, and ambiguous sequences are shown.
cSHM frequencies (× 10−5) were determined by dividing point mutations by nucleotides sequenced (i.e. clones sequenced × 450 nt/V region).
dPercent GC frequencies were determined by dividing unique GC events by all sequences analyzed in unsorted WT and DNA–PKcs−/−/− cells.
eFrequency of sIgM+ revertants as determined by sequencing (left side of column) or flow cytometry (right side of column).
fIgM+-sorted WT, DNA–PKcs−/−/− and Ku70−/− DT40 clones correspond to those shown in Figure 2B. Sequences are illustrated in Figure 3B and Supplementary Figure 2.