DNA base excision repair nanosystem engineering: Model development

DNA base damage results from a combination of endogenous sources, (normal metabolism, increased metabolism due to obesity, stress from diseases such as arthritis and diabetes, and ischemia) and the environment (ingested toxins, ionizing radiation, etc.). If unrepaired DNA base damage can lead to diminished cell function, and potentially diseases and eventually mutations that lead to cancer. Sophisticated DNA repair mechanisms have evolved in all living cells to preserve the integrity of inherited genetic information and transcriptional control. Understanding a system like DNA repair is greatly enhanced by using engineering methods, in particular modeling interactions and using predictive simulation to analyze the impact of perturbations. We describe the use of such a "nanosystem engineering" approach to analyze the DNA base excision repair pathway in human cells, an use simulation to predict the impact of varying enzyme concentration on DNA repair capacity.