Reduced joining of DNA double strand breaks with an abnormal mutation spectrum in rodent mutants of DNA-PKcs and Ku80.

To characterize further the contribution of the DNA-PK-dependent dsb repair pathway in mammalian cells. The efficiency and fidelity of the joining of linear plasmids by DNA-PKcs-defective mouse cells (SCID) and Ku80-defective Chinese hamster ovary cells (xrs-6) was measured using either linear or circular replicating shuttle vector pZ189. The authors found a 3.9-10.7-fold reduced joining of the DNA ends, as compared with wild-type cells. Mutation analysis of the joining site revealed that the joining process was not hypermutable in the mutated cells. However, the SCID and xrs-6 cells produced a different spectrum of mutations at the joining site with a significantly lower proportion of insertions or more complex mutations. The remaining joining ability of the mutant cells points to an alternative DNA-PK-independent pathway of dsb repair. Comparison of these data with similar data from yeast suggest that the postulated alternative pathway of dsb repair is at least as efficient and less error-prone in rodent cells.