The Five Families of DNA Repair Proteins and their Functionally Relevant Ubiquitination

Abstract

The process of DNA repair, be it a response to replication dysfunction or genotoxic insult, is critical for the resolution of strand errors and the avoidance of DNA mismatches that could result in various molecular pathologies, including carcinogenic development. Here, we will describe the five main mechanisms by which DNA avoids mutation, namely the processes of base excision repair, mismatch repair, nucleotide excision repair, homologous recombination, and nonhomologous end joining. In particular, we will dis-sect the functional significance of various posttranslational modifications of the essential proteins within these pathways, including but not limited to ubiquitination, acetylation, and phosphorylation.