eISSN: 09748369 Insight into the DNA repair mechanism operating during cell cycle checkpoints in eukaryotic cells Biology and Medicine Review Article Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 147-166, 2012 Review Article Biology and Medicine, 4 (4): 147-166, 2012 www.biolmedonline.com Insight into the DNA repair mechanism operating during cell cycle checkpoints in eukaryotic cells M Asimuddin, K Jamil* Centre for Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advance Studies, Buddha Bhavan, MG Road, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. *Corresponding Author:
[email protected] Accepted: 11th Sep 2012, Published: 28th Sep 2012 Abstract In this article, we have briefly reviewed the molecular mechanism involved in DNA damage and repair at various checkpoints of the cell cycle in eukaryotic cells. Eukaryotic cells have an ability to develop a response to DNA damage that can be caused by environmental factors such as chemicals, xenobiotics, free radicals, ionizing radiation (IR) or products of intracellular metabolism and also due to products of medical therapy. In response to these insults, the following reactions can take place in the cellular environment: (a) In the case of DNA damage, the protein machinery is activated and attaches itself to the site of the lesion which results in cell cycle arrest at the G1 to S phase (the G1/S checkpoint), DNA replication phase (the intra-S checkpoint), or G2 to mitosis phase (the G2/M checkpoint) until the lesion undergoes repair; (b) As there are many different lesions possible, the following DNA repair mechanisms are activated which include direct repair, base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, mismatch repair, and double strand breaks (DSBs) such as, homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) repair.