In Vitro Rejoining of Double Strand Breaks in Genomic DNA

Recent genetic and biochemical studies have provided important insights into the mechanism of nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) pathways in higher eukaryotes, and have facilitated the functional characterization of several of its components including DNA-PKcs, Ku, DNA ligase IV, XRCC4, XLF/Cernunnos, and Artemis. Nevertheless, there is evidence that as of yet uncharacterized repair factors may contribute to the efficiency of NHEJ, for example by modulating the activity of known factors. Also, the discovery of alternative pathways of NHEJ that function as backup to the classical DNA-PK-dependent pathway of NHEJ has added yet another dimension in the set of activities involved. The biochemical characterization of NHEJ in higher eukaryotes has benefited significantly from in vitro plasmid-based end joining assays. However, because of differences in the organization and sequence of genomic and plasmid DNA, and because multiple pathways of NHEJ are operational, it is possible that different factors are preferred for the rejoining of DSBs induced in plasmid versus genomic DNA organized in chromatin. Here, we describe an in vitro assay that allows the study of DSB rejoining in genomic DNA. The assay utilizes as a substrate DSBs induced by various means in genomic DNA prepared from agarose-embedded cells after appropriate lysis. Two extremes in terms of state of DNA organization are described: “naked” DNA and DNA organized in chromatin. We describe the protocols developed to carry out and analyze these in vitro reactions, including procedures for the preparation of cell extract and the preparation of the substrate DNA (“naked” DNA or nuclei).