Accumulation of somatic mutations is thought to contribute to the aging process. Genomic instability has been shown to increase during aging, suggesting an aberrant function of DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair. Surprisingly, DSB repair has not been examined with respect to cellular senescence. Therefore, we have studied the ability of young, presenescent, and senescent normal human fibrobla...

In human cells DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) can be repaired by the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway. In a background of NHEJ deficiency, DSBs with mismatched ends can be joined by an error-prone mechanism involving joining between regions of nucleotide microhomology. The majority of joins formed from a DSB with partially incompatible 3' overhangs by cell-free extracts from human gli...

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a relatively new solid-state joining process. This joining technique is energy efficient, environment friendly, and versatile. In particular, it can be used to join high-strength aerospace aluminium alloys and other metallic alloys that are hard to weld by conventional fusion welding. FSW is considered to be one of the most significant developments in metal joinin...

Background The application of carbon-fiber reinforced plastics offers a high potential to decrease the weight of structural parts, without decreasing the performance of the product. Thus, the general and specific efficiency (e.g. eco-efficiency) is enlarged [1, 2]. Unfortunately, there are significant challenges within the assembly respectively joining process of CFRPparts, especially if the ma...

DNA end-joining is the major repair pathway for double-strand breaks (DSBs) in higher eukaryotes. To understand how DSB structure affects the end-joining process in human cells, we have examined the in vivo repair of linearized plasmids containing complementary as well as several different configurations of non-complementary DNA ends. Our results demonstrate that, while complementary and blunt ...

Cernunnos is involved in the nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) process during DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair. Here, we studied immunoglobulin (Ig) class switch recombination (CSR), a physiological process which relies on proper repair of the DSBs, in B cells from Cernunnos-deficient patients. The pattern of in vivo generated CSR junctions is altered in these cells, with unusually long micr...