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Updated: Aug 1, 2026

Quantification of γH2AX Foci in Response to Ionising Radiation
Published on: April 7, 2010
H2AX may function as an anchor to hold broken chromosomal DNA ends in close proximity
Craig H Bassing1, Frederick W Alt
1The CBR Institute for Biomedical Research, The Children's Hospital, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Abstract:
The histone H2A variant, H2AX, is a core component of chromatin that is phosphorylated in chromatin flanking DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). Here, we summarize H2AX functions and outline a specific "anchoring" model, that can explain the translocation prone phenotype of H2AX-deficient and H2AX/p53-deficient mice. We also discuss how this model of H2AX function could account for some aspects of the genomic instability and cancer prone human phenotypes associated with Ataxia Telangiectasia (AT), Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome (NBS), Ataxia Telangiectasia Like Disorder (ATLD), and Bloom's Syndrome (BS).
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