Received: September 27, 2002. *Correspondence. Fax: +48-42 635-44-84; E-mail: [email protected] The mammalian RAD51 gene is a homologue of the yeast RAD51 and E. coli RecA genes, which are involved in the genetic recombination the repair of DNA double-strand breaks, and SOS responses to DNA damage. RAD51 gene product (hRAD51, m.w. 37 kD) can bind to singleand double-stranded DNA and exhi...

Rad54 and Rad51 are important proteins for the repair of double-stranded DNA breaks by homologous recombination in eukaryotes. As previously shown, Rad51 protein forms nucleoprotein filaments on single-stranded DNA, and Rad54 protein directly interacts with such filaments to enhance synapsis, the homologous pairing with a double-stranded DNA partner. Here we demonstrate that Saccharomyces cerev...

BACKGROUND The Rad51 recombinase assembles on DNA to execute homologous DNA recombination (HR). This process is essential to repair replication-associated genomic lesions before cells enter mitosis, but how it is started and stopped during the cell cycle remains poorly understood. Rad51 assembly is regulated by the breast cancer suppressor Brca2, via its evolutionarily conserved BRC repeats, an...

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Rad52 protein plays an essential role in the repair of DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs). Rad52 and its orthologs possess the unique capacity to anneal single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) complexed with its cognate ssDNA-binding protein, RPA. This annealing activity is used in multiple mechanisms of DSB repair: single-stranded annealing, synthesis-dependent strand annealing...

Mammalian RAD51 paralogs are implicated in the repair of collapsed replication forks by homologous recombination. However, their physiological roles in replication fork maintenance prior to fork collapse remain obscure. Here, we report on the role of RAD51 paralogs in short-term replicative stress devoid of DSBs. We show that RAD51 paralogs localize to nascent DNA and common fragile sites upon ...

Genetic information encoded in chromosomal DNA is challenged by intrinsic and exogenous sources of DNA damage. DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are extremely dangerous DNA lesions. RAD51 plays a central role in homologous DSB repair, by facilitating the recombination of damaged DNA with intact DNA in eukaryotes. RAD51 accumulates at sites containing DNA damage to form nuclear foci. However, the ...

Metazoan Rad51 plays a central role in homologous DNA recombination, and its activity is controlled by a number of Rad51 cofactors. These include five Rad51 paralogs, Rad51B, Rad51C, Rad51D, XRCC2 and XRCC3. We previously hypothesized that all five paralogs participate collaboratively in repair. However, this idea was challenged by the biochemical identification of two independent complexes com...

DNA damage alone or DNA replication fork arrest at damaged sites may induce DNA double-strand breaks and initiate homologous recombination. This event can result in a crossover with a homologous chromosome, causing loss of heterozygosity along the chromosome. It is known that Srs2 acts as an antirecombinase at the replication fork: it is recruited by the SUMO (a small ubiquitin-related modifier...

Rad51 protein, involved in homologous recombination, is overexpressed in a variety of tumors, and its expression is correlated with a poor prognosis. Here we propose to exploit the overexpression of Rad51 in cancer cells to design a Rad51 promoter-based anticancer therapy. On average, Rad51 mRNA and protein levels are increased in cancer cells four- and sixfold, respectively. Serendipitously, w...

BRCA2 is a breast cancer susceptibility gene implicated in the repair of double-strand breaks by homologous recombination with RAD51. BRCA2 associates with a 70-amino-acid protein, DSS1, but the functional significance of this interaction has remained unclear. Recently, deficiency of a DSS1 orthologue in the fungus Ustilago maydis has been shown to cause a defect in recombinational DNA repair. ...