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Interplay of p53 and DNA-repair protein XRCC4 in tumorigenesis, genomic stability and development

Abstract

XRCC4 is a non-homologous end-joining protein employed in DNA double strand break repair and in V(D)J recombination1,2. In mice, XRCC4-deficiency causes a pleiotropic phenotype, which includes embryonic lethality and massive neuronal apoptosis2. When DNA damage is not repaired, activation of the cell cycle checkpoint protein p53 can lead to apoptosis3. Here we show that p53-deficiency rescues several aspects of the XRCC4-deficient phenotype, including embryonic lethality, neuronal apoptosis, and impaired cellular proliferation. However, there was no significant rescue of impaired V(D)J recombination or lymphocyte development. Although p53-deficiency allowed postnatal survival of XRCC4-deficient mice, they routinely succumbed to pro-B-cell lymphomas which had chromosomal translocations linking amplified c-myc oncogene and IgH locus sequences. Moreover, even XRCC4-deficient embryonic fibroblasts exhibited marked genomic instability including chromosomal translocations. Our findings support a crucial role for the non-homologous end-joining pathway as a caretaker of the mammalian genome, a role required both for normal development and for suppression of tumours.

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Figure 1: Effects of p53-deficiency on survival of XRCC4-/- mice.
Figure 2: Effects of p53 deficiency on developing XRCC4-/- neurons and T cells.
Figure 3: IgH and c-myc gene alterations in XRCC4-/- p53-/- pro-B-cell lymphomas.
Figure 4: Growth analysis and cytogenetic studies of MEFs.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants and a Hood Foundation grant (J.P.M.). J.S. is the Richard D. Frisbee III Foundation Fellow of the Leukaemia Society of America. Y.G. is an associate of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. R.A.D. is an American Cancer Society research professor. F.W.A. is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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Correspondence to Frederick W. Alt.

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Gao, Y., Ferguson, D., Xie, W. et al. Interplay of p53 and DNA-repair protein XRCC4 in tumorigenesis, genomic stability and development. Nature 404, 897–900 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35009138

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