Approximately 12% of Americans do not consume the amount of zinc equal to the Estimated Average Requirement for zinc and could be at risk for marginal zinc deficiency. Zinc is an essential component of proteins in the defense against oxidative stress and DNA damage repair. Specifically in the prostate, zinc...
DNA damage, if not repaired, can become a mutation. Mutation
accumulation is associated with initiation and progression of tumorigenesis. DNA
mismatch repair (MMR) is required for maintaining genetic stability by repairing
replication errors. Biochemical studies have shown that MMR also recognizes
mismatch-causing DNA lesions, suggesting the role of MMR in...
Mitotic recombination is a common autosomal mutation in mammalian cells involving crossover events between homologous chromosomes. This process can convert a cell with a heterozygous deficiency to one with a homozygous deficiency, and thus often represents the second step in tumor suppressor gene inactivation. In this study I examined the...
The DNA mismatch repair (MMR) pathway maintains genomic stability and
reduces cancer risk (colorectal and other internal cancers) by correcting polymerase
errors and activating cell cycle checkpoints and apoptosis in response to DNA damage.
Few studies have examined the influence of commonly encountered environmental
mutagens/carcinogens on the etiology of MMR-deficient...
Escherichia coli double-strand uracil-DNA glycosylase (Dug) was purified to apparent homogeneity from bacteria that were defective in uracil-DNA glycosylase (Ung). After cloning the dug gene, recombinant Dug was overexpressed, purified, and characterized with respect to activity, substrate specificity, product DNA binding, and mechanism of action. Purified Dug excised both uracil...
Genomic instability underlies diseases of unregulated cell growth that result in
cancers and developmental abnormalities in humans. Similar genome destabilizing
mechanisms are used to create genetic variety in crops for use in breeding and trait
development. Errors that occur during DNA replication may cause mutations if
they are not corrected...