PURPOSE Novel zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) were designed to target the human rhodopsin gene and induce homologous recombination of a donor DNA fragment. METHODS Three-finger zinc finger nucleases were designed based on previously published guidelines. To assay for ZFN specificity, the authors generated human embryonic retinoblast cell lines stably expressing a Pro23His rhodopsin, the most com...

Poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) is an abundant nuclear enzyme activated by DNA breaks. PARP is generally believed to play a role in maintaining the integrity of the genome in eukaryote cells via anti-recombinogenic activity by preventing inappropriate homologous recombination reactions at DNA double-strand breaks. While inhibition of PARP reduces non-homologous recombination, at the same time...

Mammalian RAD51 protein plays essential roles in DNA homologous recombination, DNA repair and cell proliferation. RAD51 activities are regulated by its associated proteins. It was previously reported that a ubiquitin-like protein, UBL1, associates with RAD51 in the yeast two-hybrid system. One function of UBL1 is to covalently conjugate with target proteins and thus modify their function. In th...

Repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks requires action of multiple DNA repair pathways, including homologous recombination. Here, we report a de novo heterozygous T131P mutation in RAD51/FANCR, the key recombinase essential for homologous recombination, in a patient with Fanconi anemia-like phenotype. In vitro, RAD51-T131P displays DNA-independent ATPase activity, no DNA pairing capacity, and a c...

Spontaneous recombination between direct repeats at the adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) locus in ERCC1-deficient cells generates a high frequency of rearrangements that are dependent on the process of homologous recombination, suggesting that rearrangements are formed by misprocessing of recombination intermediates. Given the specificity of the structure-specific Ercc1/Xpf endonuclease...

Homologous recombination functions universally in the maintenance of genome stability through the repair of DNA breaks and in ensuring the completion of replication. In some organisms, homologous recombination can perform more specific functions. One example of this is in antigenic variation, a widely conserved mechanism for the evasion of host immunity. Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent ...

Bloom's syndrome (BS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by a strong cancer predisposition. The defining feature of BS is extreme genome instability. The gene mutated in Bloom's syndrome, BLM, encodes a DNA helicase (BLM) of the RecQ family. BLM plays a role in homologous recombination; however, its exact function remains controversial. Mutations in the BLM cause hyperrecombinatio...

objective: the secreted aspartic proteinases (sap2) of candida albicans has prominent role on candida adherence, invasion, and pathogenicity. the aim of this study was cloning, expression and characterizing of sap2 enzyme. also in this study for the first time, the expression system p. pasturis was used for expressing the recombinant protein. materials and methods: c. albicans sap2 gene was am...

introduction: beta thalassemias are a heterogenous group of autosomal recessive disorders, characterized by reduced or absent production of the b-globin chain by the affected allele. transplantation of allogenic hematopoietic stem cells (hsc) is a curative approach but this therapeutic option is not available to the majority of patients. transplantation of genetically corrected autologous hsc i...

Homologous DNA (or genetic) recombination plays important roles in heredity and evolution. A recent study has shown that a physical linkage established by recombination between two or more homologous DNA regions or molecules is essential for the precise disjunction of homologous chromosomes in meiosis and the recovery of collapsed DNA replication forks. These physical linkages in recombination ...