1H, 13C, 15N backbone resonance assignment for the 1–164 construct of human XRCC4

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) represent the most cytotoxic DNA lesions, as—if mis- or unrepaired—they can cause cell death or lead to genome instability, which in turn can cause cancer. DSBs are repaired by two major pathways termed homologous recombination and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). NHEJ is responsible for repairing the vast majority of DSBs arising in human cells. Defects in NHEJ factors are also associated with microcephaly, primordial dwarfism and immune deficiencies. One of the key proteins important for mediating NHEJ is XRCC4. XRCC4 is a dimer, with the dimer interface mediated by an extended coiled-coil. The N-terminal head domain forms a mixed alpha–beta globular structure. Numerous factors interact with the C-terminus of the coiled-coil domain, which is also associated with significant self-association between XRCC4 dimers. A range of construct lengths of human XRCC4 were expressed and purified, and the 1–164 variant had the best NMR properties, as judged by consistent linewidths, and chemical shift dispersion. In this work we report the 1H, 15 N and 13C backbone resonance assignments of human XRCC4 in the solution form of the 1–164 construct. Assignments were obtained by heteronuclear multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. In total, 156 of 161 assignable residues of XRCC4 were assigned to resonances in the TROSY spectrum, with an additional 11 resonances assigned to His-Tag residues. Prediction of solution secondary structure from a chemical shift analysis using the TALOS + webserver is in good agreement with the published X-ray crystal structures of this protein.