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Updated: May 15, 2026

Laser Microirradiation to Study In Vivo Cellular Responses to Simple and Complex DNA Damage
Published on: January 31, 2018
To spread or not to spread--chromatin modifications in response to DNA damage
Matthias Altmeyer1, Jiri Lukas
1Chromosome Stability and Dynamics Unit, Department of Disease Biology, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3B, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark. matthias.altmeyer@cpr.ku.dk
Abstract:
Chromatin modifications in response to DNA damage are vital for genome integrity. Multiple proteins and pathways required to generate specialized chromatin domains around DNA lesions have been identified and the increasing amount of information calls for unifying concepts that would allow us to grasp the ever-increasing complexity. This review aims at contributing to this trend by focusing on feed-forward and feedback mechanisms, which in mammalian cells determine the extent of chromatin modifications after DNA damage. We highlight the emerging notion that the nodal points of these highly dynamic pathways operate in a rate-limiting mode, whose deregulation can disrupt physiological boundaries between damaged and undamaged chromatin, dictate repair pathway choice, and determine the fate of cells exposed to genotoxic stress.
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