Ku70 and Ligase IV deficiencies reveal distinct alternative end-joining outcomes in G1-arrested progenitor B cells

Classical nonhomologous end-joining (C-NHEJ) repairs DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) throughout interphase but is thought to predominate in G1-phase when homologous recombination is unavailable. Complexes containing the Ku70/80 ("Ku") and XRCC4/Ligase IV (Lig4) core C-NHEJ factors are required, respectively, for sensing and joining DSBs. While such factors are exclusively required for joining RAG1/2-initiated DSBs during V(D)J recombination in G1-phase lymphocyte progenitors, cycling cells deficient for core C-NHEJ factors join chromosomal DSBs by alternative end-joining (A-EJ) pathways. Restriction of V(D)J recombination to C-NHEJ has been attributed to RAG-mediated exclusion of A-EJ; however, it remains unclear whether A-EJ is similarly excluded from more general DSBs in G1. Here, we report that Ku actively and robustly suppresses A-EJ of RAG1/2 and two classes of engineered endonuclease-mediated DSBs in G1-arrested progenitor B cell lines. Thus, while targeted DSBs remain as free broken ends in Lig4-deficient G1-arrested progenitor B cells, deletion of Ku70 in Lig4-deficient cells restores DSB rejoining and translocation to levels observed in Ku70-deficient counterparts. Correspondingly, while V(D)J recombination is abrogated in Ligase4-deficient lines, V(D)J-like joining occurs in Ku70-deficient and Ku70/Lig4 double-deficient lines through a translocation-based A-EJ mechanism. We conclude that in G1, Lig4-deficient progenitor B cells are functionally end-joining deficient due to a near complete Ku-dependent block in A-EJ. Thus, the differential impacts of Ku deficiency versus XRCC4/Ligase IV deficiency on V(D)J recombination, severity of neuronal apoptosis, and embryonic development, including Ku-deficiency rescuing Lig4-deficient embryonic lethality, may be explained by Ku-mediated inhibition of A-EJ in the G1 cell cycle phase. We employed JoinT-seq, HTGTS-Rep-Rejoin and LAM-HTGTS to map genome-wide and rejoining repair outcome in G1-arrested murine pro-B cells and to elucidate the roles of Ku70 and Lig4 in repair pathway choice. We performed GRO-seq to study the gene transcription activity in cycling and G1-arrested v-Abl transformed pro-B cells.