Nonhomologous End Joining-Mediated Gene Replacement in Plant Cells

Nonhomologous end joining-mediated gene replacement in plant cells.

Stimulation of the homologous recombination DNA-repair pathway via the induction of genomic double-strand breaks (DSBs) by zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) has been deployed for gene replacement in plant cells. Nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ)-mediated repair of DSBs, on the other hand, has been utilized for the induction of site-specific mutagenesis in plants. Since NHEJ is the dominant DSB repair...

Bacterial nonhomologous end joining requires teamwork.

All living organisms must repair DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) in order to survive. Many bacteria rely on nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) when only a single copy of the genome is available and maintain NHEJ pathways with a minimum of two proteins. In this issue, Bhattarai and colleagues identify additional factors that can work together to aid in survival of stationary-phase cells with chr...

SnapShot: Nonhomologous DNA End Joining (NHEJ)

The TMPRSS2-ERG Gene Fusion Blocks XRCC4-Mediated Nonhomologous End-Joining Repair and Radiosensitizes Prostate Cancer Cells to PARP Inhibition.

Exposure to genotoxic agents, such as ionizing radiation (IR), produces DNA damage, leading to DNA double-strand breaks (DSB); IR toxicity is augmented when the DNA repair is impaired. We reported that radiosensitization by a PARP inhibitor (PARPi) was highly prominent in prostate cancer cells expressing the TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusion protein. Here, we show that TMPRSS2-ERG blocks nonhomologous en...

Developmental modulation of nonhomologous end joining in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Homologous recombination and nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) are important DNA double-strand break repair pathways in many organisms. C. elegans strains harboring mutations in the cku-70, cku-80, or lig-4 NHEJ genes displayed multiple developmental abnormalities in response to radiation-induced DNA damage in noncycling somatic cells. These phenotypes did not result from S-phase, DNA damage, or...