Project description:The DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), composed of the KU heterodimer and the catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs), is a classical non-homologous end-joining (cNHEJ) factor1. KU binds to DNA ends, initiates cNHEJ, and recruits and activates DNA-PKcs. Beyond DNA, KU also binds to RNA, with unknown significance in mammals. Using mouse models, we uncovered an unexpected role for DNA-PK in ribosomal RNA (rRNA) biogenesis and hematopoiesis. Expression of kinase-dead (KD) DNA-PKcs (DNA-PKcsKD/KD) abroagates cNHEJ2. But DNA-PKcsKD/KDTp53-/- mice develop myeloid disease rather than pro-B cell lymphoma, like other cNHEJ/Tp53-deficient mice3. DNA-PKcs is its own the best substrate. Blocking DNA-PKcs phosphorylation at the T2609, but not the S2056 cluster leads to KU-dependent 18S rRNA processing defects, compromises global protein synthesis in hematopoietic cells and causes bone marrow failure in mice. KU drives assembly of DNA-PKcs on a broad array of cellular RNAs, including the U3 small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA), which is essential for 18S rRNA processing4. U3 activates purified DNA-PK and triggers T2609 phosphorylation. DNA-PK, but not other cNHEJ factors, resides in nucleoli in an rRNA-dependent manner and is co-purified with the small subunit (SSU) processome. Together our data show that DNA-PK has RNA-dependent, but cNHEJ-independent, functions during ribosome biogenesis that require DNA-PKcs’ kinase activity and T2609 cluster’s phosphorylation.
