Development of Fluorescently Labeled Probes to Study DNA Repair under Homologous Recombination
Class
Article
Department
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Faculty Mentor
Edwin Antony
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
DNA damage can be caused by external factors, or simply during replication. If such damage is not fixed accurately, it can result in a variety of cancers and chromosomal abnormalities. Homologous Recombination (HR) in humans and higher eukaryotes is one example of a DNA repair mechanism which corrects these errors. HR is a complex pathway with several steps involved in correcting DNA damage. In HR, the undamaged gene (from the homologous chromosome in the cell) is used as a template for the erroneous gene. A protein called Rad51 is the primary molecular machine that performs HR. When and where HR starts is highly regulated in the cell. My research focuses on developing fluorescent probes to study how Rad51 forms on, or dissociates from, DNA during HR. So far two probes have been developed, one by labeling Single Strand Binding (SSB) protein, and the other by directly labeling Rad51 through the incorporation of an Unnatural Amino Acid (UAA). These probes have been used to study regulatory proteins which either stabilize the Rad51-DNA complex (called pro-HR mediators) or remove the Rad51 filament (anti-HR mediators).
Start Date
4-9-2015 1:30 PM
Development of Fluorescently Labeled Probes to Study DNA Repair under Homologous Recombination
DNA damage can be caused by external factors, or simply during replication. If such damage is not fixed accurately, it can result in a variety of cancers and chromosomal abnormalities. Homologous Recombination (HR) in humans and higher eukaryotes is one example of a DNA repair mechanism which corrects these errors. HR is a complex pathway with several steps involved in correcting DNA damage. In HR, the undamaged gene (from the homologous chromosome in the cell) is used as a template for the erroneous gene. A protein called Rad51 is the primary molecular machine that performs HR. When and where HR starts is highly regulated in the cell. My research focuses on developing fluorescent probes to study how Rad51 forms on, or dissociates from, DNA during HR. So far two probes have been developed, one by labeling Single Strand Binding (SSB) protein, and the other by directly labeling Rad51 through the incorporation of an Unnatural Amino Acid (UAA). These probes have been used to study regulatory proteins which either stabilize the Rad51-DNA complex (called pro-HR mediators) or remove the Rad51 filament (anti-HR mediators).