Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

The double (strand break) life of Par-3

Nature Cell Biology volume 9, pages 363–365 (2007)Cite this article

In mammalian cells, DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are repaired by the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway. A key component of this repair mechanism is the DNA binding protein, Ku. A recent study shows that Par-3, a protein involved in cell polarity and the assembly of tight junctions, interacts with Ku and is involved in NHEJ, suggesting an intriguing new role for Par-3 and links between cell morphology and DNA damage response pathways.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The Par-6–Par-3–aPKC complex is found at the plasma membrane, where it is required for assembly of tight junctions and cell polarity.

References

  1. Lees-Miller, S. P. & Meek, K. Biochimie 85, 1161–1173 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Fang, L. et al. Cell Research 17, 100–116 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Macara, I. G. & Spang, A. Cell 125, 419–421 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Macara, I. G. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 5, 220–231 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Humbert, P. O., Dow, L. E. & Russell, S. M. Trends Cell Biol. 16, 622–630 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Etienne-Manneville, S. & Hall, A. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 15, 67–72 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Suzuki, A. & Ohno, S. J. Cell Sci. 119, 979–987 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hurd, T. W. & Margolis, B. Nature Cell Biol. 7, 205–207 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Zhang, H. & Macara, I. G. Nature Cell Biol. 8, 227–237 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Long, J. F. et al. Nature Struct. Mol. Biol. 12, 722–728 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Azzam, E. I., de Toledo, S. M. & Little, J. B. Oncogene 22, 7050–7057 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Nordal, R. A. & Wong, C. S. Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 62, 279–287 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Alessi, D. R., Sakamoto, K. & Bayascas, J. R. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 75, 137–163 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Mhawech, P. Cell Res. 15, 228–236 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Usui, T. & Petrini, J. H. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 2797–2802 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I would like to that P. Douglas and J. Lees-Miller for their helpful suggestions and comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Susan P. Lees-Miller is at the Southern Alberta Cancer Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. leesmill@ucalgary.ca,

    Susan P. Lees-Miller

Authors
  1. Susan P. Lees-Miller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lees-Miller, S. The double (strand break) life of Par-3. Nat Cell Biol 9, 363–365 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0407-363

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0407-363

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing