Xpg limits the expansion of haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells after ionising radiation

Reduced capacity of genome maintenance represents a problem for any organism, potentially causing premature death, carcinogenesis, or accelerated ageing. Strikingly though, loss of certain genome stability factors can be beneficial, especially for the maintenance of tissue stem cells of the intestine and the haematopoietic system. We therefore screened for genome stability factors negatively impacting maintenance of haematopoietic stem cells (HSC) in the context of ionising radiation (IR). We found that in vivo knock down of Xeroderma pigmentosum, complementation group G (Xpg) causes elevation of HSC numbers after IR treatment, while numbers of haematopoietic progenitors are elevated to a lesser extent. IR rapidly induces Xpg both on mRNA and on protein level. Prevention of this induction does not influence activation of the checkpoint cascade, yet attenuates late checkpoint steps such as induction of p21 and Noxa. This causes a leaky cell cycle arrest and lower levels of apoptosis, both contributing to increased colony formation and transformation rates. Xpg thus helps to adequately induce DNA damage responses after IR, thereby keeping the expansion of damaged cells under control. This represents a new function of Xpg in the response to IR, in addition to its well-characterized role in nucleotide excision repair.