Acting through a complex signalling network, DNA lesions trigger a range of cellular responses including DNA repair, cell cycle arrest, altered gene expression and cell death, which help to limit the mutagenic effects of such DNA damage. RNA processing factors are increasingly being recognised as important targets of DNA damage signalling, with roles in the regulation of gene expression and als...

Transcription-coupled DNA repair (TCR) acts on lesions in the transcribed strand of active genes. Helix distorting adducts and other forms of DNA damage often interfere with the progression of the transcription apparatus. Prolonged stalling of RNA polymerase can promote genome instability and also induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. These generally unfavorable events are counteracted by RNA...

Abstract Phosphorylated H2A.X is a critical chromatin marker of DNA damage repair (DDR) in higher eukaryotes. However, gene expression remains relatively uncharacterised. Replication-dependent (RD) histone genes generate poly(A)- mRNA encoding new histones to package during replication. In contrast, replication-independent (RI) synthesise poly(A)+ throughout the cell cycle, translated into vari...

Oxidative RNA damage has been linked to loss of RNA function and to the development of many human age-related diseases. Consequently, a need exists for methods to identify and quantify the extent of RNA oxidation on a genome-wide basis. We developed such a method by combining affinity selection of mRNA containing 8-hydroxyguanine with high throughput DNA sequencing. We demonstrate that this ass...

RNA is targeted in biological conflicts by enzymatic toxins or effectors. A vast diversity of systems which repair or 'heal' this damage has only recently become apparent. Here, we summarize the known effectors, their modes of action, and RNA targets before surveying the diverse systems which counter this damage from a comparative genomics viewpoint. RNA-repair systems show a modular organizati...