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Molecular biology

The long and short of a DNA-damage response

Nature volume 545, pages 165–166 (2017)Cite this article

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Ultraviolet light can damage DNA, triggering a general shutdown of gene transcription — yet some genes are activated by UV light. An investigation of this counter-intuitive behaviour reveals a surprising gene-regulation mechanism.

DNA damage can lead to mutations, cancer and even cell death, and activates several biological processes1,2. These include: DNA repair that removes lesions from the double helix; checkpoints that arrest cell-cycle progression to prevent the transmission of damaged DNA to daughter cells; apoptosis, a form of cell death that eliminates cells with heavily damaged genomes; and a transcription response that changes the cellular RNA profile. Much is known about how cells orchestrate these processes, but the transcription response is arguably the least well understood of the four. Writing in Cell, Williamson et al.3 describe a mechanism for the transcription response to DNA damage caused by ultraviolet light. Their findings reveal a remarkable circuit that triggers the formation of non-coding RNA molecules from a gene. Moreover, these molecules oppose the action of the protein that is produced from the same gene in the absence of UV damage.

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Figure 1: Ultraviolet irradiation alters RNA processing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1E 4K8, Canada

    Antonio Conconi & Brendan Bell

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  1. Antonio Conconi
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  2. Brendan Bell
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Correspondence to Antonio Conconi or Brendan Bell.

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Conconi, A., Bell, B. The long and short of a DNA-damage response. Nature 545, 165–166 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22488

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