title: The yin and yang of repair mechanisms in DNA structure-induced genetic instability.
abstract: DNA can adopt a variety of secondary structures that deviate from the canonical Watson-Crick B-DNA form. More than 10 types of non-canonical or non-B DNA secondary structures have been characterized, and the sequences that have the capacity to adopt such structures are very abundant in the human genome. Non-B DNA structures have been implicated in many important biological processes and can serve as sources of genetic instability, implicating them in disease and evolution. Non-B DNA conformations interact with a wide variety of proteins involved in replication, transcription, DNA repair, and chromatin architectural regulation. In this review, we will focus on the interactions of DNA repair proteins with non-B DNA and their roles in genetic instability, as the proteins and DNA involved in such interactions may represent plausible targets for selective therapeutic intervention.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Dell Pediatric Research Institute, 1400 Barbara Jordan Blvd. R1800, Austin, TX 78723, United States. Electronic address: karen.vasquez@austin.utexas.edu.
authors.forename: Karen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Vasquez
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Dell Pediatric Research Institute, 1400 Barbara Jordan Blvd. R1800, Austin, TX 78723, United States.
authors.forename: Guliang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D004260:DNA Repair; D015894:Genome, Human; D042822:Genomic Instability; D006801:Humans; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation
chemical_list: D004247:DNA