Ku80 is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the XRCC5 gene.[5] Together, Ku70 and Ku80 make up the Ku heterodimer, which binds to DNA double-strand break ends and is required for the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway of DNA repair. It is also required for V(D)J recombination, which utilizes the NHEJ pathway to promote antigen diversity in the mammalian immune system.
In addition to its role in NHEJ, Ku is required for telomere length maintenance and subtelomeric gene silencing.[6]
Ku was originally identified when patients with systemic lupus erythematosus were found to have high levels of autoantibodies to the protein.[7]
- ^ a b c GRCh38: Ensembl release 89: ENSG00000079246 – Ensembl, May 2017
- ^ a b c GRCm38: Ensembl release 89: ENSMUSG00000026187 – Ensembl, May 2017
- ^ "Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- ^ "Mouse PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
entrezBwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Boulton SJ, Jackson SP (March 1998). "Components of the Ku-dependent non-homologous end-joining pathway are involved in telomeric length maintenance and telomeric silencing". EMBO J. 17 (6): 1819–28. doi:10.1093/emboj/17.6.1819. PMC 1170529. PMID 9501103.
- ^ "Entrez Gene: XRCC6 X-ray repair complementing defective repair in Chinese hamster cells 6 (Ku autoantigen, 70kDa)".