Phosphorylation of DNA-PKcs at the S2056 cluster ensures efficient and productive lymphocyte development in XLF-deficient mice

The non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway is a major DNA double-strand break repair pathway in mammals and is essential for lymphocyte development. Ku70 and Ku80 heterodimer (KU) initiates NHEJ, thereby recruiting and activating the catalytic subunit of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs). While DNA-PKcs deletion only moderately impairs end-ligation, the expression of Kinase-dead DNA-PKcs completely abrogates NHEJ. Active DNA-PK phosphorylates DNA-PKcs at two clusters – PQR around S2056 (S2053 in mouse) and ABCDE around T2609. Alanine substitution at the S2056 cluster moderately compromises end-ligation on plasmid-based assays. But mice carrying alanine substitution at all 5 serine residues within the S2056 cluster (DNA-PKcsPQR/PQR) display no defect in lymphocyte development, leaving the physiological significance of S2056 cluster phosphorylation elusive. XLF is a non-essential NHEJ factor. Xlf-/- mice have substantial peripheral lymphocytes that are completely abolished by the loss of DNA-PKcs, the related ATM kinases, other chromatin associated DNA damage response factors (e.g., 53BP1, MDC1, H2AX, MRI, etc.) or RAG2-C-terminal regions, suggesting functional redundancy. While ATM inhibition does not further compromise end-ligation, here we show that in XLF-deficient background, DNA-PKcs S2056 cluster phosphorylation is critical for normal lymphocyte development. Chromosomal V(D)J recombination from DNA-PKcsPQR/PQRXlf-/- B cells is efficient but often has large deletions that jeopardize lymphocyte development. Class switch recombination junctions from DNA-PKcsPQR/PQRXlf-/- mice are less efficient and the residual junctions display decreased fidelity and increased deletion. These findings establish a role for DNA-PKcs S2056 cluster phosphorylation in physiological chromosomal NHEJ, implying that S2056 cluster phosphorylation contributes to the synergy between XLF and DNA-PKcs in end-ligation. To test whether the presence of XLF masks the role of DNA-PKcs PQR phosphorylation on chromosomal NHEJ, we generated DNA-PKcsPQR/PQRXlf-/- mice. In contrast to single deficient mice, DNA-PKcsPQR/PQRXlf-/- mice display severe lymphocytopenia consistent with V(D)J recombination defects. HTGTS of chromosomal V(D)J recombination junctions reveals markedly increased end-resection, large deletions, and severely reduced SJ fidelity to less than 10%. CSR to IgG1 is also further decreased in DNA-PKcsPQR/PQRXlf-/- cells than in the Xlf-/- control.