1932

Abstract

DNA mismatch repair (MMR) guards the integrity of the genome in virtually all cells. It contributes about 1000-fold to the overall fidelity of replication and targets mispaired bases that arise through replication errors, during homologous recombination, and as a result of DNA damage. Cells deficient in MMR have a mutator phenotype in which the rate of spontaneous mutation is greatly elevated, and they frequently exhibit microsatellite instability at mono- and dinucleotide repeats. The importance of MMR in mutation avoidance is highlighted by the finding that defects in MMR predispose individuals to hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer. In addition to its role in postreplication repair, the MMR machinery serves to police homologous recombination events and acts as a barrier to genetic exchange between species.

Keyword(s): cancermutagenesisMutLMutSrecombination
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.micro.57.030502.090847
2003-10-01
2024-03-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.micro.57.030502.090847
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.micro.57.030502.090847
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error