Ribonucleotides and manganese ions improve non-homologous end joining by human Polμ

Human DNA polymerase mu (Pol mu), a family X member involved in DNA repair, has both template-directed and terminal transferase (template-independent) activities. In addition to their ability to incorporate untemplated nucleotides, another similarity between Pol mu and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) is their promiscuity in using ribonucleotides (NTPs), whose physiological significance is presently unknown. As shown here, Pol mu can use NTPs instead of deoxynucleotides (dNTPs) during non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) of non-complementary ends, a Pol mu-specific task. Moreover, a physiological concentration of Mn2+ ions did benefit Pol mu-mediated NHEJ by improving the efficiency and accuracy of nucleotide insertion. Analysis of different mutations in the 'steric gate' of the active site indicated that Pol mu is taking advantage of an open active site, valid for selecting alternative activating metal ions and nucleotides as substrates. This versatility would allow ad hoc selection of the most appropriate nucleotide/metal ion combination for individual NHEJ events to gain efficiency without a cost in terms of fidelity, thus widening the spectrum of available solutions to position a discontinuous template strand in proper register for connection.