Wednesday, August 08, 2007

DNA Repair through Cohesion

The Biocompare article 'Chromosome Glue Repairs Damaged DNA' shows that DNA repair operates with respect to chromatids. The repair mechanism involves a phenomenon known as cohesion. As indicated by the meaning of the word itself, cohesion holds two chromosome copies together until the right time and is an important function during cell division. The "glue" cohesion is actually a protein complex. It is believed that malfunction of DNA repair mechanisms like cohesion can result in cancer.

A somewhat surprising find was that, aside from chromosome segregation occuring during cellular division, DNA damage can activate cohesion. Cohesion then, has both a vital cell division function as well as a DNA repair function. Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet, a Swedish medical university are credited with the research findings.

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