Function of recQ family helicase in genome stability

The recQ gene of Escherichia coli is the founding member of the RecQ family of helicases. Like E. coli, lower eukaryotic species also possess single RecQ proteins, such as Sgs1 and Rqh1 in budding and fission yeast, respectively. However, there are five RecQ helicases in human as well as in chicken cells. Three of the human RecQ helicases are encoded by BLM, WRN and RECQL4 genes, defects of which give rise to the cancer predisposition disorders known as Bloom syndrome (BS), Werner syndrome (WS) and Rothmund-Thomson syndrome (RTS), respectively. The other two, RECQL1 and RECQL5, have not been associated with human diseases. Characterization of RecQ family proteins in unicellular organisms has revealed that their defects confer genomic instability and impairment of homologous recombination. Although systematic genetic analysis of human BS, WS, and RTS cells must be useful to understand their functions, such approach is hampered by the difficulty of making cell lines with double gene disruptions. In this context, the chicken DT40 cell line is an ideal experimental tool for sophisticated approaches that illuminate the functions of vertebrate RecQ helicases. Here, we briefly review general features of RecQ helicases and describe their functions as revealed by analysis of DT40 cells.