Molecular basis for CSB stimulation of the SNM1A DNA repair nuclease

Lasting Epigenetic Changes Results from DNA Double Strand Break Repair

Gene expression is the complex process of producing proteins from a specific gene sequence encoded in DNA. The DNA in the nucleus of a cell is constantly surrounded by the machinery of gene expression. That machinery will attempt to start the process of transcription, the first step of gene expression, for any sequence it bumps into. Recall that every part of a cell is a chemical soup of molecules moving at incredible speeds, interacting with ev…

JCI Expanding the landscape of nucleotide excision repair disorders: from discovery to therapy

DNA damage and repair are central to the onset of cancer, aging, and aging-related diseases. Rare genetic defects in the nucleotide excision repair pathway, such as those causing the cancer-prone disorder xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) or the progeroid condition Cockayne syndrome, highlight the dramatic consequences of unrepaired DNA lesions. In this issue of the JCI, two related papers from Ogi and coworkers — Fassihi et al. and Nakazawa et al. — d…

Molecular basis for CSB stimulation of the SNM1A DNA repair nuclease

The Cockayne Syndrome B (CSB, ERCC6) protein, interacts with the exonuclease SNM1A during transcription-coupled DNA interstrand (ICL) repair, with CSB facilitating localisation of SNM1A to ICL damage. The functional and mechanistic details of this interaction in DNA repair, however, have not b...