DNA damage response in the absence of DNA
damage
Recruitment of DNA repair factors to chromatin triggers DNA
damage response
Cells respond rapidly to lesions in their DNA. Failure to do so leads to genome defects and facilitates formation of tumors. The first response to a DNA lesion involves the recruitment of a myriad of DNA repair factors to the site of damage where they form a repair complex. It has generally been assumed that activation and amplification of the cellular DNA damage response requires broken DNA. A novel experimental system in which DNA repair factors can be immobilized at a specific site in the genome has now revealed that DNA repair foci can form in the absence of DNA damage and that a cellular DNA damage response is triggered. The immobilized DNA repair factor NBS1 is show in red, phosphorylation of the core histone H2AX, an indicator of an active DNA damage response in green.
To learn more, visit Tom Misteli, Ph.D., Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression.
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Soutoglou E, Misteli T. Activation of the Cellular DNA Damage Response in the Absence of DNA Lesions. Science. 2008 May 15.
PubMed Abstract
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