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SHLD1 is part of the Shieldin (SHLD) complex, which acts downstream of 53BP1 to counteract DNA double-strand break (DSB) end resection and promote DNA repair via non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). While 53BP1 is essential for immunoglobulin heavy chain class switch recombination (CSR), long-range V(D)J recombination and repair of RAG-induced DSBs in XLF-deficient cells, the function of SHLD during these processes remains elusive. Here we report that SHLD1 is dispensable for lymphocyte development and RAG-mediated V(D)J recombination, even in the absence of XLF. By contrast, SHLD1 is essential for restricting resection at AID-induced DSB ends in both NHEJ-proficient and NHEJ-deficient B cells, providing an end-protection mechanism that permits productive CSR by NHEJ and alternative end-joining. Finally, we show that this SHLD1 function is required for orientation-specific joining of AID-initiated DSBs. Our data thus suggest that 53BP1 promotes V(D)J recombination and CSR through two distinct mechanisms: SHLD-independent synapsis of V(D)J segments and switch regions within chromatin, and SHLD-dependent protection of AID-DSB ends against resection., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

MAD2L2 (REV7) plays an important role in DNA double-strand break repair. As a member of the shieldin complex, consisting of MAD2L2, SHLD1, SHLD2 and SHLD3, it controls DNA repair pathway choice by counteracting DNA end-resection. Here we investigated the requirements for shieldin complex assembly and activity. Besides a dimerization-surface, HORMA-domain protein MAD2L2 has the extraordinary ability to wrap its C-terminus around SHLD3, likely creating a very stable complex. We show that appropriate function of MAD2L2 within shieldin requires its dimerization, mediated by SHLD2 and accelerating MAD2L2-SHLD3 interaction. Dimerization-defective MAD2L2 impairs shieldin assembly and fails to promote NHEJ. Moreover, MAD2L2 dimerization, along with the presence of SHLD3, allows shieldin to interact with the TRIP13 ATPase, known to drive topological switches in HORMA-domain proteins. We find that appropriate levels of TRIP13 are important for proper shieldin (dis)assembly and activity in DNA repair. Together our data provide important insights in the dependencies for shieldin activity., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

The alternative non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway promotes DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair in cells deficient for NHEJ or homologous recombination, suggesting that it operates at all stages of the cell cycle. Here, we use an approach in which DNA breaks can be induced in G1 cells and their repair tracked, enabling us to show that joining of DSBs is not functional in G1-arrested XRCC4-deficient cells. Cell cycle entry into S-G2/M restores DSB repair by Pol θ-dependent and PARP1-independent alternative NHEJ with repair products bearing kilo-base long DNA end resection, micro-homologies and chromosome translocations. We identify a synthetic lethal interaction between XRCC4 and Pol θ under conditions of G1 DSBs, associated with accumulation of unresolved DNA ends in S-G2/M. Collectively, our results support the conclusion that the repair of G1 DSBs progressing to S-G2/M by alternative NHEJ drives genomic instability and represent an attractive target for future DNA repair-based cancer therapies.

XRCC4-like factor (XLF) functions in classical non-homologous end-joining (cNHEJ) but is dispensable for the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) generated during V(D)J recombination. A long-standing hypothesis proposes that, in addition to its canonical nuclease activity, the RAG1/2 proteins participate in the DNA repair phase of V(D)J recombination. Here we show that in the context of RAG2 lacking the C-terminus domain (Rag2(c/c) mice), XLF deficiency leads to a profound lymphopenia associated with a severe defect in V(D)J recombination and, in the absence of p53, increased genomic instability at V(D)J sites. In addition, Rag2(c/c) XLF(-/-) p53(-/-) mice develop aggressive pro-B cell lymphomas bearing complex chromosomal translocations and gene amplifications involving Igh and c-myc/pvt1 loci. Our results reveal an unanticipated functional interplay between the RAG complex and XLF in repairing RAG-induced DSBs and maintaining genome integrity during antigen receptor gene assembly.

Tight control of antigen-receptor gene rearrangement is required to preserve genome integrity and prevent the occurrence of leukaemia and lymphoma. Nonetheless, mistakes can happen, leading to the generation of aberrant rearrangements, such as Tcra/d-Igh inter-locus translocations that are a hallmark of ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) deficiency. Current evidence indicates that these translocations arise from the persistence of unrepaired breaks converging at different stages of thymocyte differentiation. Here we show that a defect in feedback control of RAG2 activity gives rise to bi-locus breaks and damage on Tcra/d and Igh in the same T cell at the same developmental stage, which provides a direct mechanism for generating these inter-locus rearrangements. Both the RAG2 C-terminus and ATM prevent bi-locus RAG-mediated cleavage through modulation of three-dimensional conformation (higher-order loops) and nuclear organization of the two loci. This limits the number of potential substrates for translocation and provides an important mechanism for protecting genome stability.