Mechanisms and functions of DNA mismatch repair

作者：Li Guo Min^*

来源：Cell Research, 2008, 18(1): 85-98.

DOI：10.1038/cr.2007.115

• MutS
• MutL
• microsatellite instability
• cancer

DNA mismatch repair (MMR) is a highly conserved biological pathway that plays a key role in maintaining genomic stability. The specificity of MMR is primarily for base-base mismatches and insertion/deletion mispairs generated during DNA replication and recombination. MMR also suppresses homeologous recombination and was recently shown to play a role in DNA damage signaling in eukaryotic cells. Escherichia coli MutS and MutL and their eukaryotic homologs, MutS alpha and MutL alpha, respectively, are key players in MMR-associated genome maintenance. Many other protein components that participate in various DNA metabolic pathways, such as PCNA and RPA, are also essential for MMR. Defects in MMR are associated with genome-wide instability, predisposition to certain types of cancer including hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer, resistance to certain chemotherapeutic agents, and abnormalities in meiosis and sterility in mammalian systems.

• 出版日期2008-1