Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2012
Journal/Book/Conference Title
ISRN Molecular Biology
Volume
2012
DOI of Original Publication
10.5402/2012/345805
Date of Submission
August 2014
Abstract
Most DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) formed in a natural environment have chemical modifications at or near the ends that preclude direct religation and require removal or other processing so that rejoining can proceed. Free radical-mediated DSBs typically bear unligatable 3′-phosphate or 3′-phosphoglycolate termini and often have oxidized bases and/or abasic sites near the break. Topoisomerase-mediated DSBs are blocked by covalently bound peptide fragments of the topoisomerase. Enzymes capable of resolving damaged ends include polynucleotide kinase/phosphatase, which restores missing 5′-phosphates and removes 3′-phosphates; tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterases I and II (TDP1 and TDP2), which remove peptide fragments of topoisomerases I and II, respectively; and the Artemis and Metnase endonucleases, which can trim damaged overhangs of diverse structure. TDP1 as well as APE1 can remove 3′-phosphoglycolates and other 3′ blocks, while CtIP appears to provide an alternative pathway for topoisomerase II fragment removal. Ku, a core DSB joining protein, can cleave abasic sites near DNA ends. The downstream processes of patching and ligation are tolerant of residual damage and can sometimes proceed without complete damage removal. Despite these redundant pathways for resolution, damaged ends appear to be a significant barrier to rejoining, and their resolution may be a rate-limiting step in repair of some DSBs.
Rights
Copyright © 2012 Lawrence F. Povirk. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Is Part Of
VCU Pharmacology and Toxicology Publications
Comments
Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.5402/2012/345805