Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Regulatory Protein Recruitment at DNA Damage Sites
02-Feb-2009
Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, 2009, 104, 1562–1569 published on 02.02.2009
Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, online article
Mammalian cells are constantly threatened by multiple types ofDNAlesions arising from various sources like irradiation, environmental agents, replication errors or by-products of the normal cellular metabolism. If not readily detected and repaired these lesions can lead to cell death or to the transformation of cells giving rise to life-threatening diseases like cancer. Multiple specialized repair pathways have evolved to preserve the genetic integrity of a cell. The increasing number of DNA damage sensors, checkpoint regulators, and repair factors identified in the numerous interconnected repair pathways raises the question of howDNArepair is coordinated. In the last decade, various methods have been developed that allow the induction of DNA lesions and subsequent real-time analysis of repair factor assembly at DNA repair sites in living cells. This combination of biophysical and molecular cell biology methods has yielded interesting newinsights into the order and kinetics of protein recruitment and identified regulatory sequences and selective loading platforms for the efficient restoration of the genetic and epigenetic integrity of mammalian cells.