In vitro experiments in DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunitsevere combined immunodeficiency (Prkdc scid) fibroblasts using designed zinc finger nucleases (ZFN) and a repair template demonstrated molecular and functional correction of the defect.
The most popular mouse strains used in research, the NOG (NOD.Cg-Prkdc<sup>scid</sup> Il2rγ<sup>tm1Sug</sup>/Jic) and the NSG (NOD/SCID-IL2Rγ<sup>-/-</sup>, NOD.Cg-Prkdc<sup>scid</sup>Il2rγ<sup>tm1Wjl</sup>/SzJ) mouse, and their human-cytokine-producing (interleukin-3, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and stem cell factor) counterparts (huNOG and NSGS), rely partly on a mutation in the DNA repair protein PRKDC, causing a severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) phenotype and rendering the mice less tolerant to DNA-damaging therapeutics, thereby limiting their usefulness in the investigation of novel acute myeloid leukemia (AML) therapeutics.
Defects in DNA cross-link repair 1C (DCLRE1C), protein kinase DNA activated catalytic polypeptide (PRKDC), ligase 4 (LIG4), NHEJ1, and NBS1 involving the nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) DNA repair pathway result in radiation-sensitive severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID).
Here, we use zinc-finger nucleases to generate rats that lack either the Prkdc gene (SCID) or the Prkdc and Il2rg genes (referred to as F344-scid gamma [FSG] rats).
Here, we use zinc-finger nucleases to generate rats that lack either the Prkdc gene (SCID) or the Prkdc and Il2rg genes (referred to as F344-scid gamma [FSG] rats).
Any defect in one of the known components of the DNA repair/V(D)J recombination machinery (Ku70, Ku80, DNA-PKcs, XRCC4 and DNA ligase IV) leads to abortion of the V(D)J rearrangement process, early block in both T and B cell maturation, and ultimately to severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) in several animal models.
In the present study, we demonstrated minisatellite (MS) instability in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) cells in which the DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) is impaired.
Chromosomal fragments expressing p350 complement the SCID phenotype, and p350 protein levels are greatly reduced in cells derived from SCID mice compared to cells from wild-type mice.