Response to RAG-Mediated V(D)J Cleavage by NBS1 and gamma-H2AX

NBS1 Localizes to γ-H2AX Foci through Interaction with the FHA/BRCT Domain

is phosphorylated and forms discrete foci immediately (within 5 min) after irradiation [5]; hence, it may represent an earlier signaling response than formation of the complex within 2 hr of irradiation, as detected by anti-hMRE11 antibody (Figure 2A). In the absence of NBS1, 5 Medical and Biological Laboratories Nagano 396-0002 hMRE11 protein was confined to the cytoplasm and did not form nucl...

High throughput evaluation of gamma-H2AX

The DNA double-strand break (DSB) is the primary lethal lesion after therapeutic radiation. Thus, the development of assays to detect and to quantitate these lesions could have broad preclinical and clinical impact. Phosphorylation of histone H2AX to form gamma-H2AX is a known marker for irradiation-induced DNA DSBs. However, the first generation assay involves the use of immunofluorescent stai...

Single-molecule analysis of RAG-mediated V(D)J DNA cleavage.

The recombination-activating gene products, RAG1 and RAG2, initiate V(D)J recombination during lymphocyte development by cleaving DNA adjacent to conserved recombination signal sequences (RSSs). The reaction involves DNA binding, synapsis, and cleavage at two RSSs located on the same DNA molecule and results in the assembly of antigen receptor genes. We have developed single-molecule assays to ...

Independent of the Rag Proteins Beyond the 12/23 Rule of VDJ Recombination

An optimized method for detecting gamma-H2AX in blood cells reveals a significant interindividual variation in the gamma-H2AX response among humans

Phosphorylation of histone H2AX on serine 139 (gamma-H2AX, gammaH2AX) occurs at sites flanking DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and can provide a measure of the number of DSBs within a cell. Here we describe a rapid and simple flow-cytometry-based method, optimized to measure gamma-H2AX in non-fixed peripheral blood cells. No DSB induced signal was observed in H2AX-/- cells indicating that our F...