Kinase-dependent structural role of DNA-PKcs during immunoglobulin class switch recombination

Abstract

The catalytic subunit of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) is a classical nonhomologous end-joining (cNHEJ) factor. Loss of DNA-PKcs diminished mature B cell class switch recombination (CSR) to other isotypes, but not IgG1. Here, we show that expression of the kinase-dead DNA-PKcs (DNA-PKcsKD/KD) severely compromises CSR to IgG1. High-throughput sequencing analyses of CSR junctions reveal frequent accumulation of nonproductive interchromosomal translocations, inversions, and extensive end resection in DNA-PKcsKD/KD, but not DNA-PKcs−/−, B cells. Meanwhile, the residual joints from DNA-PKcsKD/KD cells and the efficient Sμ-Sγ1 junctions from DNA-PKcs−/− B cells both display similar preferences for small (2–6 nt) microhomologies (MH). In DNA-PKcs−/− cells, Sμ-Sγ1 joints are more resistant to inversions and extensive resection than Sμ-Se and Sμ-Sμ joints, providing a mechanism for the isotype-specific CSR defects. Together, our findings identify a kinase-dependent role of DNA-PKcs in suppressing MH-mediated end joining and a structural role of DNA-PKcs protein in the orientation of CSR.