The DNA-dependent protein kinase: A multifunctional protein kinase with roles in DNA double strand break repair and mitosis

• Published in: Progress in biophysics and molecular biology Vol. 117; no. 2-3; pp. 194 - 205
• Main Authors: Jette, Nicholas, Lees-Miller, Susan P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2015
• Subjects: Animals; Binding Sites; DNA - chemistry; DNA - genetics; DNA - ultrastructure; DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded; DNA Repair - genetics; DNA-Activated Protein Kinase - chemistry; DNA-Activated Protein Kinase - genetics; DNA-Activated Protein Kinase - ultrastructure; DNA-dependent protein kinase; Enzyme Activation; Humans; Mitosis; Mitosis - genetics; Models, Biological; Models, Chemical; Models, Molecular; Non-homologous end joining; Nucleic Acid Conformation; Protein Binding; Protein Conformation; DNA-PKcs; DNA-PK; Mitosis; IR; ds; SAXS; HEAT; DSB; DNA-dependent protein kinase; PI3K; Non-homologous end joining; PP6; FAT; ATM; PIKK; cryo-EM; ATR
• ISSN: 0079-6107; 1873-1732; 1873-1732
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2014.12.003

The DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) is a serine/threonine protein kinase composed of a large catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) and the Ku70/80 heterodimer. Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made in elucidating the role of DNA-PK in non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), the major pathway for repair of ionizing radiation-induced DNA double strand breaks in human cells and recently, additional roles for DNA-PK have been reported. In this review, we will describe the biochemistry, structure and function of DNA-PK, its roles in DNA double strand break repair and its newly described roles in mitosis and other cellular processes.