Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Atomic Force Microscopy Investigations of DNA Lesion Recognition in Nucleotide Excision Repair
Published on: May 24, 2017
XPB: An essential helicase involved in both transcription and repair of DNA
Joanna Timmins1, Sean McSweeney
1Macromolecular Crystallography Group, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, B.P. 220, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, F-38043, Grenoble-Cedex 9, France.
Abstract:
Helicases are molecular motors known to unwind double-stranded DNA. In a recent issue of Molecular Cell, Fan et al. (2006) revealed the core structure of XPB helicase, a component of transcription factor IIH, and proposed a mechanism for its dual role in transcription and nucleotide excision repair.
Related Concept Videos
Homologous Recombination
DNA Helicases
Nucleotide Excision Repair
Cells are regularly exposed to mutagens—factors in the environment that can damage DNA and generate mutations. UV radiation is one of the most common mutagens and is estimated to introduce a significant number of changes in DNA. These include bends or kinks in the structure, which can block DNA replication or transcription. If these errors are not fixed, the damage can cause mutations, which in turn can result in cancer or disease depending on which sequences are...
Nucleotide Excision Repair
Nucleotide Excision Repair
Restarting Stalled Replication Forks

