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Biochemistry

A glimpse of molecular competition

Nature volume 491, pages 198–200 (2012)Cite this article

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Single-molecule studies reveal how the DNA-repair protein RecA overcomes competition from another protein to bind to single-stranded DNA, and how other mediator proteins assist in this process. See Letter p.274

Chromosomes consist of two interwound DNA strands millions of base pairs in length. These long molecules inevitably suffer breakage, which can be induced by ionizing radiation, biochemicals or natural DNA processing within cells. Double-strand breaks in DNA are not normally lethal to a cell, and can be accurately repaired by a process known as homologous recombination1,2, during which a broken DNA fragment searches for and pairs with an intact strand from another DNA molecule that carries an identical (homologous) sequence. The search process is remarkable in two respects: the homologous partner can be found even among the many millions of non-homologous segments, and the crucial base sequence can be recognized even when it is largely buried within a DNA double helix.

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Figure 1: Nucleation and extension of RecA filaments.

Notes

  1. *This article and the paper under discussion4 were published online on 24 October 2012.

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  1. Susan T. Lovett is in the Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454-9110, USA.,

    Susan T. Lovett

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  1. Susan T. Lovett
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Correspondence to Susan T. Lovett.

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Lovett, S. A glimpse of molecular competition. Nature 491, 198–200 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11639

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