title: In vitro nonhomologous DNA end joining system.
abstract: The nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway is the major pathway that repairs DNA double strand breaks in multicellular eukaryotic organisms. Unlike homologous recombination, the NHEJ pathway utilizes minimal or no homology between the ends that need to be joined. Although the resulting NHEJ-repaired junctions can be diverse in sequence, they share a few common features, including frequent nucleolytic resection of the ends, near-random junctional additions, and utilization of microhomology. The in vitro NHEJ assay was developed in an attempt to recapitulate the joining of incompatible ends with purified core proteins and some additional factors. This in vitro system allows further understanding of the biochemical features of the pathway and evaluation of the functions of other proteins in NHEJ.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA.
authors.forename: Yunmei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Lieber
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004260:DNA Repair; D051747:DNA-Activated Protein Kinase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C101467:XRCC4 protein, human; D051747:DNA-Activated Protein Kinase