Cy. Wang et al., Irradiation-induced rescue of thymocyte differentiation and V(D)J recombination in mice lacking the catalytic subunit of DNA-dependent protein kinase, J IMMUNOL, 163(11), 1999, pp. 6065-6071
Scid mice express a truncated form of the catalytic subunit of the DNA-depe
ndent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) and are unable to properly rearrange their
Ig and TCR genes, resulting in a severe combined immunodeficiency that is c
haracterized by arrested differentiation of B and T lymphocytes, Treatment
of scid mice with low doses of gamma irradiation rescues rearrangements at
several TCR loci and promotes limited thymocyte differentiation. The machin
ery responsible for sensing DNA damage and the mechanism by which irradiati
on compensates for the scid defect in TCR recombination remain unknown. Bec
ause DNA-PKcs is present in scid thymocytes, it may mediate some or all of
the irradiation effects. To test this hypothesis, we examined the effects o
f irradiation on DNA-PKcs-deficient (slip) mice. Our data provide the first
evidence that DNA-PKcs is not required for limited rescue of thymocyte dif
ferentiation or TCR rearrangements.