Ku80 has been referred to by several names including:
Lupus Ku autoantigen protein p80
ATP-dependent DNA helicase 2 subunit 2
X-ray repair complementing defective repair in Chinese hamster cells 5
X-ray repair cross-complementing 5 (XRCC5)
Epigenetic repression
The protein expression level of Ku80 can be repressed by epigenetic hypermethylation of the promoter region of gene XRCC5 which encodes Ku80.[8] In a study of 87 matched pairs of primary tumors of non-small-cell lung carcinoma and nearby normal lung tissue, 25% of the tumors had loss of heterozygosity at the XRCC5 locus and a similar percentage of tumors had hypermethylation of the promoter region of XRCC5. Low protein expression of Ku80 was significantly associated with low mRNA expression and with XRCC5 promoter hypermethylation but not with LOH of the gene.[8]
Senescence
Mouse mutants with homozygous defects in Ku80 experience an early onset of senescence.[9][10] Ku80(-/-) mice exhibit aging-related pathology (osteopenia, atrophic skin, hepatocellular degeneration, hepatocellular inclusions, hepatic hyperplastic foci and age-specific mortality). Furthermore, Ku80(-/-) mice exhibit severely reduced lifespan and size. Loss of only a single Ku80 allele in Ku(-/+) heterozygous mice causes accelerated aging in skeletal muscle, although post natal growth is normal.[11] An analysis of the level of Ku80 protein in human, cow, and mouse indicated that Ku80 levels vary dramatically between species, and that these levels are strongly correlated with species longevity.[12] These results suggest that the NHEJ pathway of DNA repair mediated by Ku80 plays a significant role in repairing double-strand breaks that would otherwise cause early senescence (see DNA damage theory of aging).
A deficiency in expression of a DNA repair gene increases the risk for cancer (see Deficient DNA repair in carcinogenesis). Ku80 protein expression was found to be deficient in melanoma.[13] In addition, low expression of Ku80 was found in 15% of adenocarcinoma type and 32% of squamous cell type non-small cell lung cancers, and this was correlated with hypermethylation of the XRCC5 promoter.[8]
Ku80 appears to be one of 26 different DNA repair proteins that are epigenetically repressed in various cancers (see Cancer epigenetics).
^ abcMatheos D, Ruiz MT, Price GB, Zannis-Hadjopoulos M (October 2002). "Ku antigen, an origin-specific binding protein that associates with replication proteins, is required for mammalian DNA replication". Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1578 (1–3): 59–72. doi:10.1016/s0167-4781(02)00497-9. PMID12393188.
Chen DJ, Park MS, Campbell E, Oshimura M, Liu P, Zhao Y, White BF, Siciliano MJ (1992). "Assignment of a human DNA double-strand break repair gene (XRCC5) to chromosome 2". Genomics. 13 (4): 1088–94. doi:10.1016/0888-7543(92)90023-L. PMID1505945.
Cao QP, Pitt S, Leszyk J, Baril EF (1994). "DNA-dependent ATPase from HeLa cells is related to human Ku autoantigen". Biochemistry. 33 (28): 8548–57. doi:10.1021/bi00194a021. PMID8031790.
Taccioli GE, Gottlieb TM, Blunt T, Priestley A, Demengeot J, Mizuta R, Lehmann AR, Alt FW, Jackson SP, Jeggo PA (1994). "Ku80: product of the XRCC5 gene and its role in DNA repair and V(D)J recombination". Science. 265 (5177): 1442–5. Bibcode:1994Sci...265.1442T. doi:10.1126/science.8073286. PMID8073286.
Chen DJ, Marrone BL, Nguyen T, Stackhouse M, Zhao Y, Siciliano MJ (1994). "Regional assignment of a human DNA repair gene (XRCC5) to 2q35 by X-ray hybrid mapping". Genomics. 21 (2): 423–7. doi:10.1006/geno.1994.1287. PMID8088837.
Maruyama K, Sugano S (1994). "Oligo-capping: a simple method to replace the cap structure of eukaryotic mRNAs with oligoribonucleotides". Gene. 138 (1–2): 171–4. doi:10.1016/0378-1119(94)90802-8. PMID8125298.
Kaczmarski W, Khan SA (1993). "Lupus autoantigen Ku protein binds HIV-1 TAR RNA in vitro". Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 196 (2): 935–42. doi:10.1006/bbrc.1993.2339. PMID8240370.
Blunt T, Taccioli GE, Priestley A, Hafezparast M, McMillan T, Liu J, Cole CC, White J, Alt FW, Jackson SP (1996). "A YAC contig encompassing the XRCC5 (Ku80) DNA repair gene and complementation of defective cells by YAC protoplast fusion". Genomics. 30 (2): 320–8. doi:10.1006/geno.1995.9871. PMID8586433.