title: Photolyase/cryptochrome blue-light photoreceptors use photon energy to repair DNA and reset the circadian clock.
abstract: Blue light governs a number of cellular responses in bacteria, plants, and animals, including photoreactivation, plant development, and circadian photoentrainment. These activities are mediated by a family of highly conserved flavoproteins, the photolyase/cryptochrome family. Photolyase binds to UV photoproducts in DNA and repairs them in a process called photoreactivation in which blue light is used to initiate a cyclic electron transfer to break bonds and restore the integrity of DNA. Cryptochrome, which has a high degree of sequence identity to photolyase, works as the main circadian photoreceptor and as a component of the molecular clock in animals, including mammals, and regulates growth and development in plants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, NC 27599-7260, USA.
authors.forename: Carol L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Aziz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sancar
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D056931:Cryptochromes; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000502:physiology*; D004255:Deoxyribodipyrimidine Photo-Lyase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005136:Eye Proteins; D005420:Flavoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008322:Mammals; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017785:Photons; D017956:Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011740:Pyrimidine Dimers / Q000378:metabolism; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D056931:Cryptochromes; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005136:Eye Proteins; D005420:Flavoproteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011740:Pyrimidine Dimers; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; C119828:cry protein, Drosophila; D004255:Deoxyribodipyrimidine Photo-Lyase