Characterizing the functional overlap and mutagenic potential of different pathways of chromosomal double-strand break (DSB) repair is important to understand how mutations arise during cancer development and treatment. To this end, we have compared the role of individual factors in three different pathways of mammalian DSB repair: alternative-nonhomologous end joining (alt-NHEJ), single-strand annealing (SSA), and homology directed repair (HDR/GC). Considering early steps of repair, we found that the DSB end-processing factors KU and CtIP affect all three pathways similarly, in that repair is suppressed by KU and promoted by CtIP. In contrast, both KU and CtIP appear dispensable for the absolute level of total-NHEJ between two tandem I-SceI–induced DSBs. During later steps of repair, we find that while the annealing and processing factors RAD52 and ERCC1 are important to promote SSA, both HDR/GC and alt-NHEJ are significantly less dependent upon these factors. As well, while disruption of RAD51 causes a decrease in HDR/GC and an increase in SSA, inhibition of this factor did not affect alt-NHEJ. These results suggest that the regulation of DSB end-processing via KU/CtIP is a common step during alt-NHEJ, SSA, and HDR/GC. However, at later steps of repair, alt-NHEJ is a mechanistically distinct pathway of DSB repair, and thus may play a unique role in mutagenesis during cancer development and therapy.

To characterize the repair pathways of chromosome double-strand breaks (DSBs), one approach involves monitoring the repair of site-specific DSBs generated by rare-cutting endonucleases, such as I-SceI. Using this method, we first describe the roles of Ercc1, Msh2, Nbs1, Xrcc4, and Brca1 in a set of distinct repair events. Subsequently, we considered that the outcome of such assays could be influenced by the persistent nature of I-SceI-induced DSBs, in that end-joining (EJ) products that restore the I-SceI site are prone to repeated cutting. To address this aspect of repair, we modified I-SceI-induced DSBs by co-expressing I-SceI with a non-processive 3′ exonuclease, Trex2, which we predicted would cause partial degradation of I-SceI 3′ overhangs. We find that Trex2 expression facilitates the formation of I-SceI-resistant EJ products, which reduces the potential for repeated cutting by I-SceI and, hence, limits the persistence of I-SceI-induced DSBs. Using this approach, we find that Trex2 expression causes a significant reduction in the frequency of repair pathways that result in substantial deletion mutations: EJ between distal ends of two tandem DSBs, single-strand annealing, and alternative-NHEJ. In contrast, Trex2 expression does not inhibit homology-directed repair. These results indicate that limiting the persistence of a DSB causes a reduction in the frequency of repair pathways that lead to significant genetic loss. Furthermore, we find that individual genetic factors play distinct roles during repair of non-cohesive DSB ends that are generated via co-expression of I-SceI with Trex2.

Background: Incorrect end use during repair can cause chromosome rearrangements. Results: DNA-PKcs and RAD50 limit incorrect end use, and a break downstream from an active promoter shows elevated incorrect end use; these factors and conditions have distinct effects on repair requiring end processing. Conclusion: DNA-PKcs, RAD50, and transcription context influence correct end use. Significance: Correct end use and end processing appear distinct processes.

Homologous recombination (HR) provides an efficient mechanism for error-free repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). However, HR can be also harmful as inappropriate or untimely HR events can give rise to lethal recombination intermediates and chromosome rearrangements. A critical step of HR is the formation of a RAD51 filament on single-stranded (ss)DNA, which mediates the invasion of a homologous DNA molecule. In mammalian cells, several DNA helicases have been implicated in the regulation of this process. RECQ5, a member of the RecQ family of DNA helicases, interacts physically with the RAD51 recombinase and disrupts RAD51 presynaptic filaments in a reaction dependent on ATP hydrolysis. Here, we have precisely mapped the RAD51-interacting domain of RECQ5 and generated mutants that fail to interact with RAD51. We show that although these mutants retain normal ATPase activity, they are impaired in their ability to displace RAD51 from ssDNA. Moreover, we show that ablation of RECQ5-RAD51 complex formation by a point mutation alleviates the inhibitory effect of RECQ5 on HR-mediated DSB repair. These findings provide support for the proposal that interaction with RAD51 is critical for the anti-recombinase attribute of RECQ5.