XRCC6

X-ray repair cross-complementing protein 6 is a protein in humans that is encoded by XRCC6 gene. Single-stranded DNA-dependent ATP-dependent helicase. Has a role in chromosome translocation. The DNA helicase II complex binds preferentially to fork-like ends of double-stranded DNA in a cell cycle-dependent manner. It works in the 3'-5' direction. Binding to DNA may be mediated by XRCC6. Involved in DNA non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) required for double-strand break repair and V(D)J recombination. The XRCC5/6 dimer acts as regulatory subunit of the DNA-dependent protein kinase complex DNA-PK by increasing the affinity of the catalytic subunit PRKDC to DNA by 100-fold. The XRCC5/6 dimer is probably involved in stabilizing broken DNA ends and bringing them together. The assembly of the DNA-PK complex to DNA ends is required for the NHEJ ligation step.