Endonuclease G: A role for the enzyme in recombination and cellular proliferation

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0603445103
• Publication Date: 2006-06-06T00:58:40Z
• Authors: Ke-Jung Huang; Chia-Chi Ku; I. Robert Lehman
• Keywords: Recombination, Genetic; 0301 basic medicine; Endodeoxyribonucleases; Base Sequence; Cell Survival; Cell Cycle; Molecular Sequence Data; Herpesvirus 1, Human; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; Chlorocebus aethiops; Animals; Humans; RNA Interference; Vero Cells; Cell Proliferation

Our earlier studies had suggested that endonuclease G (EndoG), a member of the evolutionarily conserved DNA/RNA nonspecific ββα-Me-finger nuclease family, functioned in the a sequence-mediated segment inversion observed during herpes simplex virus 1 replication. To test this hypothesis, we used RNA interference to reduce the level of EndoG in mammalian cells in culture. Reduction of EndoG produced a small but statistically significant decrease in a sequence-mediated recombination, suggesting that EndoG does play a role in this process. We also observed that reduction in the level of EndoG resulted in a deficiency in cell proliferation. Cells with a reduced level of EndoG also showed changes in cell distribution in the cell cycle, producing a pattern characteristic of cells that have been arrested in the G 2 phase. These findings suggest that EndoG is required for normal cellular proliferation.