it is now universally accepted that dna is the main target for damages caused by physical and chemical genotoxicants. although there are different methods to measure directly the induced dna damages but due to fast repair processes in cellular environment, most of the damages would be repaired even before sampling, therefore processed dna damages, i.e. damages left unrepaired after acting repai...

Maintaining genomic stability in the face of replication and recombination requires a huge variety of different damage response proteins. A cell’s ability to decide when and where to deploy this DNA repair kit is critical to prevent tumor development. This issue’s Select highlights recent studies that help to explain how these difficult decisions are made and reveals that some surprising cellul...

To whet your appetite for the special focus in next issue’s Leading Edge on Genomic Instability, we take a look at what’s new in the field of DNA repair. Ranging from network analyses of the proteins involved in mutagenic DNA repair to examination of single molecules taking part in homologous recombination, this Select probes the inner workings of a process that can wreak havoc during carcinoge...

Loss of the genome maintenance factor Elg1 causes serious genome instability that leads to cancer, but the underlying mechanism is unknown. Elg1 forms the major subunit of a replication factor C-like complex, Elg1-RLC, which unloads the ring-shaped polymerase clamp PCNA from DNA during replication. Here, we show that prolonged retention of PCNA on DNA into G2/M phase is the major cause of genom...

Dysfunctional autophagy is associated with tumorigenesis; however, the relationship between the two processes remains unclear. In the present study, we showed that MAP1S levels immediately become elevated in response to diethylnitrosamine-induced or genome instability-driven metabolic stress in a murine model of hepatocarcinoma. Upregulation of MAP1S enhanced autophagy to remove aggresomes and ...

Dysfunctional autophagy is associated with tumorigenesis; however, the relationship between the two processes remains unclear. In the present study, we showed that MAP1S levels immediately become elevated in response to diethylnitrosamine-induced or genome instability-driven metabolic stress in a murine model of hepatocarcinoma. Upregulation of MAP1S enhanced autophagy to remove aggresomes and ...

Oncogenesis frequently is accompanied by rampant genome instability, which fuels genetic heterogeneity and resistance to targeted cancer therapy. We have developed an approach that allows precise, quantitative measurement of genome instability in high-throughput format in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae model system. Our approach takes advantage of the strongly DNA damage-inducible gene RNR3, in c...