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AIM OF THE THESIS
Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a versatile DNA repair mechanism that
safeguards the genome from many types of DNA damages. The importance ofNER
is highlighted by three inherited human disorders with defective NER: xeroderma
pigmentosum (XP), Cockayne syndrome (CS), and trichothiodystrophy (TTD). XP
patients display enhanced susceptibility to sunlight-induced skin cancer, but CS and
TTD are not associated with increased cancer susceptibility despite an NER defect.
Moreover, CS and TID patients are characterized by a broad range of
neurodevelopmental abnormalities, which al:e difficult to rationalise as a
consequence of a defect in NER. One of the NER genes, XPD, is implicated in XP,
XP with combined features of CS, and TTD. XPD is a subunit of the dually
functional transcription factor IIH (TFIIH) complex, involved in NER and basal
transcription initiation. It was hypothesized that mutations in XPD may not only
affect NER, causing XP and photosensitivity in TID, but may also impair the
tTanscription function of TFIIH accounting for the neurodevelopmental
abnormalities in CS and TID. The aim of the work outlined in this thesis is to gain
insight into the molecular basis of the clinical symptoms associated with defects in
the XPD gene, and into the enigmatic difference in cancer predisposition between
XP and TTD patients. To accomplish this, we aimed at generating mouse models
for XP, CS and TID. Therefore, disease-specific mutations identified in the XPD
gene of XP, XP/CS and photosensitive TID patients were mimicked in the mouse
XPD gene via homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. Chapter 1 of
this thesis reviews the NER mechanism and the clinical symptoms associated with
XP, CS and TID. In chapter 2, literature on NER-deficient mouse models is
reviewed and the phenotypical consequence of the role of NER proteins in DNA
repair, mitotic recombination and transcription is discussed. Chapter 3 and 4
describe the generation and characterization ofaXPD knockout and TID mouse
model respectively. Further analysis of the TID mouse model revealed cancer
predisposition and signs of premature aging as described in Chapter 5 and 6.