title: Promiscuous DNA synthesis by human DNA polymerase θ.
abstract: The biological role of human DNA polymerase θ (POLQ) is not yet clearly defined, but it has been proposed to participate in several cellular processes based on its translesion synthesis capabilities. POLQ is a low-fidelity polymerase capable of efficient bypass of blocking lesions such as abasic sites and thymine glycols as well as extension of mismatched primer termini. Here, we show that POLQ possesses a DNA polymerase activity that appears to be template independent and allows efficient extension of single-stranded DNA as well as duplex DNA with either protruding or multiply mismatched 3'-OH termini. We hypothesize that this DNA synthesis activity is related to the proposed role for POLQ in the repair or tolerance of double-strand breaks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hogg
authors.forename: A Elisabeth
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Sauer-Eriksson
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Johansson
mesh_terms: D020137:Base Pair Mismatch; D004247:DNA / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D053903:DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000097462:DNA Polymerase theta
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D000097462:DNA Polymerase theta