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DNA repair

A protein giant in its entirety

Nature volume 467, pages 667–668 (2010)Cite this article

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Purification of the human tumour-suppressor protein BRCA2, which is crucial for DNA repair, has been a formidable challenge owing to its large size. That mission is now accomplished, providing biochemical insight. See Article p.678

A crucial mechanism by which breaks in double-stranded DNA are repaired is homologous recombination. BRCA2, a large protein of more than 400 kilodaltons in size, is a key player in this process. Three papers1,2,3, including one by Jensen et al.1 on page 678 of this issue, report the purification and biochemical characterization of full-length human BRCA2, providing the most comprehensive picture yet of how this protein giant functions in DNA repair.

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Figure 1: The multifaceted role of BRCA2 in homologous recombination.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lee Zou is at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and the Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02129, USA. zou.lee@mgh.harvard.edu,

    Lee Zou

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  1. Lee Zou
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Zou, L. A protein giant in its entirety. Nature 467, 667–668 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/467667a

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