Review
Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 4, 712-720 (September 2003) | doi:10.1038/nrm1202
Mechanism and regulation of human non-homologous DNA end-joining
Michael R. Lieber1, Yunmei Ma1, Ulrich Pannicke2 & Klaus Schwarz2 About the authors
Abstract
Non-homologous DNA end-joining (NHEJ) — the main pathway for repairing double-stranded DNA breaks — functions throughout the cell cycle to repair such lesions. Defects in NHEJ result in marked sensitivity to ionizing radiation and ablation of lymphocytes, which rely on NHEJ to complete the rearrangement of antigen-receptor genes. NHEJ is typically imprecise, a characteristic that is useful for immune diversification in lymphocytes, but which might also contribute to some of the genetic changes that underlie cancer and ageing.
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Author affiliations
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Departments of Pathology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Microbiology, and Biology, University of Southern California School of Medicine, 1441 Eastlake Avenue, MS 9176, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, University of Ulm, Institute for Clinical Transfusion Medicine and Immunogenetics, D-89081 Ulm, Germany.
Correspondence to: Michael R. Lieber1 Email: lieber@usc.edu
Correspondence to: Klaus Schwarz2 Email: klaus.schwarz@medizin.uni-ulm.de
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