Evidence that the DNA endonuclease ARTEMIS also has intrinsic 5'-exonuclease activity

ARTEMIS is a member of the metallo-β-lactamase protein family. ARTEMIS has endonuclease activity at DNA hairpins and at 5'- and 3'-DNA overhangs of duplex DNA, and this endonucleolytic activity is dependent upon DNA-PKcs. There has been uncertainty about whether ARTEMIS also has 5'-exonuclease activity on single-stranded DNA and 5'-overhangs, because this 5'-exonuclease is not dependent upon DNA-PKcs. Here, we show that the 5'-exonuclease and the endonuclease activities co-purify. Second, we show that a point mutant of ARTEMIS at a putative active site residue (H115A) markedly reduces both the endonuclease activity and the 5'-exonuclease activity. Third, divalent cation effects on the 5'-exonuclease and the endonuclease parallel one another. Fourth, both the endonuclease activity and 5'-exonuclease activity of ARTEMIS can be blocked in parallel by small molecule inhibitors, which do not block unrelated nucleases. We conclude that the 5'-exonuclease is intrinsic to ARTEMIS, making it relevant to the role of ARTEMIS in nonhomologous DNA end joining.