Ku80 is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the XRCC5 gene. Together, Ku70 and Ku80 make up the Ku heterodimer, which binds to DNA double-strand break ends and is required for the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway of DNA repair. It is also required for V(D)J recombination, which utilizes the NHEJ pathway to promote antigen diversity in the mammalian immune system. In addition to its role in NHEJ, Ku is required for telomere length maintenance and subtelomeric gene silencing. Ku80 protein expression was found to be deficient in melanoma. In addition, low expression of Ku80 was found in 15% of adenocarcinoma type and 32% of squamous cell type non-small cell lung cancers, and this was correlated with hypermethylation of the XRCC5 promoter.
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