Download MendeleyCryo-EM structures of NHEJ assemblies with nucleosomes.
Hall, C., Frit, P., Kefala-Stavridi, A., Pelletier, A., Hardwick, S.W., Amin, H., Bilyard, M.K., Maia De Oliviera, T., Tariq, A., Zahid, S., Chirgadze, D.Y., Balasubramanian, S., Meek, K., Ropars, V., Charbonnier, J.B., Modesti, M., Calsou, P., Britton, S., Blundell, T.L., Schalch, T., Chaplin, A.K.(2025) Nat Commun 17: 648-648
- PubMed: 41444611 Search on PubMedSearch on PubMed Central
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67376-2
- Primary Citation Related Structures:
9IGW, 9IGX, 9Q80, 9Q8X, 9Q9F, 9QCR, 9QCS, 9QMS - PubMed Abstract:
DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are highly deleterious lesions that can trigger cell death or carcinogenesis if unrepaired or misrepaired. In mammals, most DSBs are repaired by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), which begins when Ku70/80 binds DNA ends and recruits DNA-PKcs to form the DNA-PK holoenzyme. Although recent cryo-EM studies have resolved several NHEJ assemblies, how these factors access DSBs within nucleosomes remains unclear. Here, we present cryo-EM structures of human Ku70/80 and DNA-PK bound to nucleosomes. Ku70/80 binds the DNA end and bends it away from the nucleosome core, while the Ku70 C-terminal SAP domain makes an additional, specific DNA contact. Our DNA-PK-nucleosome structure further reveals the opening of the Ku80 vWA domain, and we show that non-hydrolysable ATP promotes synapsis by stabilising the Ku80-mediated DNA-PK dimer. These structures reveal a model for DSB recognition on nucleosomal DNA and provide insights relevant to targeting NHEJ in cancer therapy.
- Leicester Institute for Structural and Chemical Biology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
Organizational Affiliation:
