REVIEW

Cell Research (2008): 184-197
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Structure and mechanism for DNA lesion recognition

Wei Yang¹

Correspondence: Wei Yang Tel: +1-301-402-4645; Fax: +1-301-496-0201 E-mail: Wei.Yang@nih.gov

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A fundamental question in DNA repair is how a lesion is detected when embedded in millions to billions of normal base pairs. Extensive structural and functional studies reveal atomic details of DNA repair protein and nucleic acid interactions. This review summarizes seemingly diverse structural motifs used in lesion recognition and suggests a general mechanism to recognize DNA lesion by the poor base stacking. After initial recognition of this shared structural feature of lesions, different DNA repair pathways use unique verification mechanisms to ensure correct lesion identification and removal.

Cell Research (2008) 18:184-197. doi: 10.1038/cr.2007-116; published online 24 December 2007

Keywords: base unstacking, MMR, BER, NER, ATPase, nuclease, glycosylase