title: Chromatin dynamics and the preservation of genetic information.
abstract: The integrity of the genome is frequently challenged by double-strand breaks in the DNA. Defects in the cellular response to double-strand breaks are a major cause of cancer and other age-related pathologies; therefore, much effort has been directed at understanding the enzymatic mechanisms involved in recognizing, signalling and repairing double-strand breaks. Recent work indicates that chromatin - the fibres into which DNA is packaged with a proteinaceous structural polymer - has an important role in initiating, propagating and terminating this cellular response to DNA damage.
authors.affiliation: MRC Genome Damage and Stability Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RQ, UK. j.a.downs@sussex.ac.uk
authors.forename: Jessica A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Downs
authors.forename: Michel C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Nussenzweig
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nussenzweig
mesh_terms: D002843:Chromatin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D053903:DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded; D004260:DNA Repair; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D009707:Nucleosomes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D006657:Histones; D009707:Nucleosomes