title: MutLalpha: at the cutting edge of mismatch repair.
abstract: The mismatch repair process corrects errors in newly synthesized DNA. In this issue, Modrich and colleagues (Kadyrov et al., 2006) show that a component of the human mismatch repair machinery, MutLalpha, has endonuclease activity. MutLalpha introduces single-strand breaks near the mismatch and thus generates new entry points for the exonuclease EXOI to degrade the strand containing the mismatch.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Cancer Research, University of Zurich, CH-8006 Zurich, Switzerland. jiricny@imcr.unizh.ch
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiricny
mesh_terms: D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D020137:Base Pair Mismatch; D001665:Binding Sites; D004260:DNA Repair; D005090:Exodeoxyribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D051719:MutS DNA Mismatch-Binding Protein / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D005090:Exodeoxyribonucleases; C028450:exodeoxyribonuclease I; D051719:MutS DNA Mismatch-Binding Protein