Cellular response to DNA damage

Eukaryotic cells, from yeast to man, possess evolutionarily conserved mechanisms to accurately and efficiently repair the overwhelming majority of DNA damage, thereby ensuring genomic integrity. Important repair pathways include base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, mismatch repair, non-homologous end-joining, and homologous recombination. Defects in DNA repair processes generally result in susceptibility to cancer and, often, abnormalities in multiple organ systems. While signal transduction pathways have been intensely studied, epigenetic changes occurring in response to DNA damage are rapidly increasing in importance. Effective radiation and chemotherapy sensitization could result from selective inhibition of DNA repair in tumor cells. DNA damage repair is a dynamic field of research where the fruits of basic research often have important clinical implications.