The repair of DNA double-stranded breaks (DNAdsb) through non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) is a prerequisite for the proper development of the central nervous system and the adaptive immune system. Yet, mice with Xlf or PAXX loss of function are viable and present with very mild immune phenotypes, although their lymphoid cells are sensitive to ionizing radiation attesting for the role of these factors in NHEJ. In contrast, we show here that mice defective for both Xlf and PAXX are embryonically lethal owing to a massive apoptosis of post-mitotic neurons, a situation reminiscent to XRCC4 or DNA Ligase IV KO conditions. The development of the adaptive immune system in Xlf − / − PAXX −/− E18.5 embryos is severely affected with the block of B-and T-cell maturation at the stage of IgH and TCRβ gene rearrangements, respectively. This damaging phenotype highlights the functional nexus between Xlf and PAXX, which is critical for the completion of NHEJ-dependent mechanisms during mouse development. Cell Death and Differentiation (2018) 25, 444-452; doi:10.1038/cdd.2017; published online 27 October 2017All living organisms are subjected to multitude sources of DNA damage during their lifespan, either as a result of external assault or endogenous physiological processes.1 Among endogenous sources of physiological DNAdsb is the somatic rearrangement of immunoglobulin (Ig) and TCR genes in B and T lymphocytes, respectively, during the diversification of the adaptive immune system through V(D)J recombination.2 DNA double-stranded breaks (DNAdsb) are considered the most toxic lesions. DNAdsbs are repaired by two main mechanisms: the homologous recombination (HR) in cycling cells, when a sister chromatid is available as DNA repair template, and the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) during all phases of the cell cycle.NHEJ proceeds via the simple religation of DNA ends without the need for a repair template.3 Briefly, the NHEJ is composed of seven core factors comprising the Ku70/80/ DNA-PKcs (DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit) complex, which recognizes and protects the broken DNA ends, the Artemis endo/exonuclease, which participates, when needed, in processing the DNA ends and the XRCC4/ DNA-Ligase IV/Xlf complex, which ultimately reseals the DNA break. The critical function of the NHEJ apparatus in various aspects of higher eukaryote development has been extensively perceived in several animal and human pathological conditions. As emblematic examples, loss of function of either XRCC4 or DNA ligase IV results in embryonic lethality in mice 4,5 and mutations in Artemis or DNA-PKcs result in severe combined immunodeficiency conditions in both men and mice, owing to aborted V(D)J recombination. 6 In addition, defects in NHEJ results in genetic instability and the propensity to develop various types of cancers, notably leukemia and lymphomas. Recently, a new DNA repair factor, PAXX (PAralog of XRCC4 and Xlf, also known as C9orf142 or XLS), has been identified independently by three laboratories based on bioinformatic...

XRCC4-like factor (XLF) functions in classical non-homologous end-joining (cNHEJ) but is dispensable for the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) generated during V(D)J recombination. A long-standing hypothesis proposes that, in addition to its canonical nuclease activity, the RAG1/2 proteins participate in the DNA repair phase of V(D)J recombination. Here we show that in the context of RAG2 lacking the C-terminus domain (Rag2c/c mice), XLF deficiency leads to a profound lymphopenia associated with a severe defect in V(D)J recombination and, in the absence of p53, increased genomic instability at V(D)J sites. In addition, Rag2c/c XLF−/− p53−/− mice develop aggressive pro-B cell lymphomas bearing complex chromosomal translocations and gene amplifications involving Igh and c-myc/pvt1 loci. Our results reveal an unanticipated functional interplay between the RAG complex and XLF in repairing RAG-induced DSBs and maintaining genome integrity during antigen receptor gene assembly.

f Cernunnos is a DNA repair factor of the nonhomologous end-joining machinery. Its deficiency in humans causes radiosensitive severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) with microcephaly, characterized in part by a profound lymphopenia. In contrast to the human condition, the immune system of Cernunnos knockout (KO) mice is not overwhelmingly affected. In particular, Cernunnos is dispensable during V(D)J recombination in lymphoid cells. Nevertheless, the viability of thymocytes is reduced in Cernunnos KO mice, owing to the chronic activation of a P53-dependent DNA damage response. This translates into a qualitative alteration of the T cell repertoire to one in which the most distal V␣ and J␣ segments are missing. This results in the contraction of discrete T cell populations, such as invariant natural killer T (iNKT) and mucosa-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, in both humans and mice.T he immune system is the site of intense genome dynamics, in particular during the development and maturation of B and T lymphocytes in bone marrow and the thymus, when antigen receptor genes are rearranged through V(D)J recombination prior to their expression. DNA damages are also likely to occur during the several phases of intense proliferation which accompany the development of B and T cells.V(D)J recombination is the prototypical example of the generation of a programmed DNA double-strand break (DNA-dsb) during lymphoid development through the activity of recombination activating genes 1 and 2 (Rag1/2) on immunoglobulin (Ig) and T cell receptor (TCR) genes (see the work of Helmink and Sleckman [1] for a recent review). The resulting DNA-dsb is resolved by the nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) DNA repair pathway, composed of seven core components (see the work of Lieber [2] for a recent review). The Cernunnos-Xrcc4-DNA ligase IV complex ultimately reseals the DNA-dsb. Cernunnos, also known as Xrcc4-like factor (XLF), was the last NHEJ factor that was independently identified, through a survey of RS-SCID patients (3) and a yeast two-hybrid screen with Xrcc4 as a bait (4). Cernunnos and Xrcc4 adopt the same overall three-dimensional crystal structure (5, 6) and, together with DNA ligase IV, are parts of the same complex (4, 7). Cernunnos stimulates the DNA-joining activity of the Xrcc4-DNA ligase IV complex (8, 9). V(D)J recombination constitutes a central checkpoint in the development of the immune system, as its defect leads to abortive B and T cell maturation in vivo, resulting in severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) (10), but its first recognized function was the generation of a diverse antigenic repertoire through the combinatorial association of variable, diversity, and joining segments that encode the variable domains of both Ig and TCRs (11). Numerous examples show that a reduced V(D)J recombinase activity affects the extent of antigenic diversity of immune receptors in mice and humans. The resulting immune deregulation may then lead to autoimmunity, increased susceptibility to infections, or the development of vario...

Biallelic NF2 gene inactivation is common in sporadic and in neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2)-related meningiomas. We show that, beginning at four months of age, thirty percent of mice with arachnoidal cell Cre-mediated excision of Nf2 exon 2 developed a range of meningioma subtypes histologically similar to the human tumors. Additional hemizygosity for p53 did not modify meningioma frequency or progression suggesting that Nf2 and p53 mutations do not synergize in meningeal tumorigenesis. This first mouse model initiated with a genetic lesion found in human meningiomas provides a powerful tool for investigating tumor progression and for the preclinical evaluation of therapeutic interventions.

V(D)J recombination and immunoglobulin class switch recombination (CSR) are two somatic rearrangement mechanisms that proceed through the introduction of double-strand breaks (DSBs) in DNA. Although the DNA repair factor XRCC4 is essential for the resolution of DNA DSB during V(D)J recombination, its role in CSR has not been established. To bypass the embryonic lethality of XRCC4 deletion in mice, we developed a conditional XRCC4 knockout (KO) using LoxP-flanked XRCC4 cDNA lentiviral transgenesis. B lymphocyte restricted deletion of XRCC4 in these mice lead to an average two-fold reduction in CSR in vivo and in vitro. Our results connect XRCC4 and the nonhomologous end joining DNA repair pathway to CSR while reflecting the possible use of an alternative pathway in the repair of CSR DSB in the absence of XRCC4. In addition, this new conditional KO approach should be useful in studying other lethal mutations in mice.

The immune system is the site of intense DNA damage/ modification, which occur during the development and maturation of B and T lymphocytes. V(D)J recombination is initiated by the Rag1 and Rag2 proteins and the formation of a DNA double-strand break (DNA dsb). This DNA lesion is repaired through the use of the nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway, several factors of which have been identified through the survey of immunodeficient conditions in humans and mice. Upon antigenic recognition in secondary lymphoid organs, mature B cells further diversify their repertoire through class switch recombination (CSR). CSR is a region-specific rearrangement process triggered by the activation-induced cytidine deaminase factor and also proceeds through the introduction of DNA dsb. However, unlike V(D)J recombination, CSR does not rely strictly on NHEJ for the repair of the DNA lesion. Instead, CSR, but not V(D)J recombination, requires the major factors of the DNA damage response. V(D)J recombination and CSR thus represent an interesting paradigm to study the regulation among the various DNA repair pathways. Oncogene (2007) 26, 7780-7791; doi:10.1038/sj.onc.1210875 Keywords: V(D)J recombination; class switch recombination; SCID; Artemis; Cernunnos; NHEJ V(D)J recombination and CSR: two rearrangement processes that shape the immune system repertoire B and T lymphocytes respond to foreign pathogens through specialized antigenic receptors, the B-cell receptor and T-cell receptor, respectively. The required diversity of these receptors is ensured by the V(D)J recombination process (Figure 1) which assembles previously scattered Variable (V), Diversity (D) and Joining (J) encoding gene segments through a specialized somatic DNA rearrangement mechanism (Tonegawa, 1983). The reaction is initiated by the lymphoid-specific factors, Rag1 and Rag2, which recognize recombination signal sequences (RSS) that flank all V, D and J gene units and introduce a DNA dsb at the border of the RSS (see Dudley et al. (2005) for a review on V(D)J recombination). The resulting DNA double-strand break (DNA dsb) is resolved by the ubiquitous DNA repair machinery known as non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). The convergent efforts of scientists in the immunology and DNA repair fields were decisive in defining the various actors and molecular mechanisms of this DNA repair pathway over the years as will be discussed below.The terminal maturation of B lymphocytes, which occurs in germinal centres of secondary lymphoid organs upon antigen recognition, is accompanied by two additional molecular processing of immunoglobulin genes that increase the efficiency of the humoral response: (1) the class switch recombination (CSR, Figure 2) exchanges the immunoglobulin (Ig) constant region (CH), thus modifying the function of the Ig without altering its antigenic specificity (Manis et al., 2002b) and (2) somatic hypermutations are introduced in the Ig variable domains, thus increasing their affinity for antigen (Papavasiliou and Schatz, 2002). These two events ar...

Biallelic NF2 gene inactivation is frequently found in human malignant mesothelioma. In order to assess whether NF2 hemizygosity may enhance susceptibility to asbestos fibres, we investigated the Nf2 status in mesothelioma developed in mice presenting a heterozygous mutation of the Nf2 gene (Nf2 KO3/ þ ), after intraperitoneal inoculation of crocidolite fibres. Asbestos-exposed Nf2 KO3/ þ mice developed tumoural ascites and mesothelioma at a higher frequency than their wild-type (WT) counterparts (Po0.05). Six out of seven mesothelioma cell lines established from neoplastic ascitic fluids of Nf2 KO3/ þ mice exhibited loss of the WT Nf2 allele and no neurofibromatosis type 2 protein expression was found in these cells. The results show the importance of the NF2 gene in mesothelial oncogenesis, the potential association of asbestos exposure and tumour suppressor gene inactivation, and suggest that NF2 gene mutation may be a susceptibility factor to asbestos.

Human malignant mesothelioma (HMM) is an aggressive malignancy mainly caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. Here we investigated tumor suppressor genes in mesothelioma cells from tumoral ascites developed in mice exposed to asbestos (asb) fibers and in 12 HMM cell cultures. Mutations in Nf2, p16/Cdkn2a, p19/Arf and Trp53 genes and protein expression of p15/Cdkn2b and Cdk4 were analyzed in 12 cultures from mice hemizygous for Nf2 (asb-Nf2(KO3/+)) and 4 wild type counterparts (asb-Nf2(+/+)). We have found frequent inactivations of p16/Cdkn2a, p19/Arf (or P14/ARF) and p15/Cdkn2b, coinactivation of p16/Cdkn2a and p15/Cdkn2b and low rate of Trp53 mutations in both asb-Nf2(KO3/+) and asb-Nf2(+/+) mesothelioma cells. In both mouse and human mesothelioma cells, inactivation of the hortologous genes p16/Cdkn2a or P16/CDKN2A was due to deletions at the Ink4/Arf locus encompassing p19/Arf or P14/ARF, respectively. Loss of heterozygosity at the Nf2 locus was detected in 10 of 11 asb-Nf2(KO3/+) cultures and Nf2 gene rearrangement in one asb-Nf2(+/+) culture. These data show that the profile of TSG alterations in asbestos-induced mesothelioma is similar in mice and humans. Thus, the mouse mesothelioma model could be useful for human risk assessment, taking into account interindividual variations in genetic sensitivity to carcinogens.