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Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Uracil-DNA Glycosylase Assay by Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry Analysis
Published on: April 22, 2022
Structure of the uracil-DNA N-glycosylase (UNG) from Deinococcus radiodurans
Ingar Leiros1, Elin Moe, Arne O Smalås
1The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 38043 Grenoble CEDEX 9, France.
Abstract:
Uracil-DNA glycosylases are DNA-repair enzymes that catalyse the removal of promutagenic uracil from single- and double-stranded DNA, thereby initiating the base-excision repair (BER) pathway. Uracil in DNA can occur by mis-incorporation of dUMP in place of dTMP during DNA synthesis or by deamination of cytosine, resulting in U-A or U-G mispairs. The radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans has an elevated number of uracil-DNA glycosylases compared with most other organisms. The crystal structure of dr0689 (uracil-DNA N-glycosylase), which has been shown to be the major contributor to the removal of mis-incorporated uracil bases in crude cell extracts of D. radiodurans, is reported.
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