title: Enzymes acting at strand interruptions in DNA.
abstract: Endogenous and environmental DNA-damaging agents often generate single-strand interruptions in DNA. The lesions trigger a complex set of cellular reactions. In most eukaryotic cells, cellular poly(ADP-ribose) formation is the most acute response to such damage. Recently, such events have been amenable to study with soluble cell-free extracts of human cells. These investigations clarify the modulating role on DNA repair by poly (ADP-ribose), and suggest that the primary function of this unusual polymer is to act as an antirecombinant agent. Similar biochemical studies of subsequent repair events have revealed a branched pathway for the ubiquitous DNA base excision-repair process. The alternative pathway provides the cell with back-up functions for individual steps in this essential form of DNA repair.
authors.affiliation: Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Clare Hall Laboratories, South Mimms, Hertfordshire, U.K.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lindahl
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dianov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004247:DNA; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases