Your browser version may not work well with NCBI's Web applications. More information here...
1: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 May 22;98(11):6086-91. Epub 2001 May 15.Click here to read Click here to read Links
Comment in:
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 May 22;98(11):5952-4.

Direct DNA binding by Brca1.

Paull TT, Cortez D, Bowers B, Elledge SJ, Gellert M.

Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA. tpaull@icmb.utexas.edu

The tumor suppressor Brca1 plays an important role in protecting mammalian cells against genomic instability, but little is known about its modes of action. In this work we demonstrate that recombinant human Brca1 protein binds strongly to DNA, an activity conferred by a domain in the center of the Brca1 polypeptide. As a result of this binding, Brca1 inhibits the nucleolytic activities of the Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 complex, an enzyme implicated in numerous aspects of double-strand break repair. Brca1 displays a preference for branched DNA structures and forms protein-DNA complexes cooperatively between multiple DNA strands, but without DNA sequence specificity. This fundamental property of Brca1 may be an important part of its role in DNA repair and transcription.

PMID: 11353843 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

PMCID: PMC33426

Recent Activity