11 November 2004 | ||
DNA breaks: Healing the helixDouble-stranded breaks in DNA can arise in various ways including as damage due to ionizing radiation, and following single-stranded nicks that occur as a replication fork passes by. They can be lethal to a cell if not repaired. The crystal structure of an enzyme that repairs these breaks has now been determined. The structure of the Escherichia coli RecBCD enzyme, bound to a blunt-ended DNA hairpin, reveals how double DNA strands are split up, then fed to a pair of helicase motor subunits for repair.
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© 2004 Nature Publishing Group |