DNA repair tagged posts

A collaboration between researchers at the Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) in London and the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, has solved a decades-old mystery which could pave the way to better cancer treatments in the future.

The work, which uncovered the basic mechanism of how one of our most vital DNA repair systems recognizes DNA damages and initiates their repair, has eluded researchers for many years. Using cutting edge imaging techniques to visualize how these DNA repair proteins move on a single molecule of DNA, and electron microscopy to capture how they “lock-on” to specific DNA structures, this research opens the way to more effective cancer treatments.

The collabor...

Highlights
•Mutation clusters in cancer genomes provide fingerprints of mutagenic mechanisms
•Error-free mismatch repair lowers the mutation rate in H3K36me3-marked active genes
•Error-prone repair using POLH also targets H3K36me3, contributing driver mutations
•UV and alcohol increase error-prone repair, targeting mutations toward active genes

Sunlight, alcohol consumption increase the rate at which this happens, resulting in more mutations in the most important parts of our genomes. Cancer is mostly caused by changes in the DNA of our cells that occur during our lifetime rather than those that we inherit from our parents. Identifying the causes of these ‘mutations’ is a difficult challenge because many processes can result in an identical DNA sequence change in a genome...

A solid bond: New research led by Harvard Medical School reveals that interaction between the protein DBC1 and the signaling molecule NAD+ may help ward off DNA damage. Photo credit: David Bolinsky, e.mersion studios, 2017 

DNA repair is essential for cell vitality, survival and cancer prevention, yet cells’ ability to patch up damaged DNA declines with age for reasons not fully understood. Now, research led by scientists at Harvard Medical School reveals a critical step in a molecular chain of events that allows cells to mend their broken DNA. The findings offer a critical insight into how and why the body’s ability to fix DNA dwindles over time and point to a previously unknown role for the signaling molecule NAD as a key regulator of protein-to-protein interactions in DNA repair...

Collage of products containing zinc. Credit: © Africa Studio / Fotolia

Research results present a new strategy for measuring the impact of zinc on health. The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was led by CHORI Senior Scientist Janet King, PhD. King and her team are the first to show that a modest increase in dietary zinc reduces oxidative stress and damage to DNA. Zinc is ubiquitous in our body and facilitates many functions that are essential for preserving life. It plays a vital role in maintaining optimal childhood growth, and in ensuring a healthy immune system. Zinc also helps limit inflammation and oxidative stress in our body, which are associated with the onset of chronic cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

Around much of the world, many households e...