DNA and Chromosomes
Replication protein A binds RNA and promotes R-loop formation
Replication protein A (RPA), a major eukaryotic ssDNA-binding protein, is essential for all metabolic processes that involve ssDNA, including DNA replication, repair, and damage signaling. To perform its functions, RPA binds ssDNA tightly. In contrast, it was presumed that RPA binds RNA weakly. However, recent data suggest that RPA may play a role in RNA metabolism. RPA stimulates RNA-templated DNA repair in vitro and associates in vivo with R-loops, the three-stranded structures consisting of an RNA-DNA hybrid and the displaced ssDNA strand.The Major Replicative Histone Chaperone CAF-1 Suppresses the Activity of the DNA Mismatch Repair System in the Cytotoxic Response to a DNA-methylating Agent
The DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system corrects DNA mismatches in the genome. It is also required for the cytotoxic response of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT)-deficient mammalian cells and yeast mgt1Δ rad52Δ cells to treatment with Sn1-type methylating agents, which produce cytotoxic O6-methylguanine (O6-mG) DNA lesions. Specifically, an activity of the MMR system causes degradation of irreparable O6-mG-T mispair-containing DNA, triggering cell death; this process forms the basis of treatments of MGMT-deficient cancers with Sn1-type methylating drugs.DNA Mismatch Repair Interacts with CAF-1- and ASF1A-H3-H4-dependent Histone (H3-H4)2 Tetramer Deposition
DNA mismatch repair (MMR) is required for the maintenance of genome stability and protection of humans from several types of cancer. Human MMR occurs in the chromatin environment, but little is known about the interactions between MMR and the chromatin environment. Previous research has suggested that MMR coincides with replication-coupled assembly of the newly synthesized DNA into nucleosomes. The first step in replication-coupled nucleosome assembly is CAF-1-dependent histone (H3-H4)2 tetramer deposition, a process that involves ASF1A-H3-H4 complex.Evidence That the DNA Mismatch Repair System Removes 1-Nucleotide Okazaki Fragment Flaps
Background: The DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system protects humans from cancer.Results: Combining an MMR system defect (msh2Δ) with rad27Δ causes a strong synergistic increase in the rate of 1-bp insertions, and a reconstituted MMR system removes 1-nt flaps.Conclusion: The MMR system removes 1-nt Okazaki fragment flaps.Significance: A new function of the MMR system was identified.
