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Updated: Apr 25, 2026

Two- and Three-Dimensional Live Cell Imaging of DNA Damage Response Proteins
Published on: September 28, 2012
Should I stay or should I go: VCP/p97-mediated chromatin extraction in the DNA damage response
Nico P Dantuma1, Klara Acs1, Martijn S Luijsterburg2
1Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, von Eulers väg 3, S-17177 Stockholm, Sweden.
Abstract:
The ordered assembly of DNA repair factors on chromatin has been studied in great detail, whereas we are only beginning to realize that selective extraction of proteins from chromatin plays a central role in the DNA damage response. Interestingly, the protein modifier ubiquitin not only regulates the well-documented recruitment of repair proteins, but also governs the temporally and spatially controlled extraction of proteins from DNA lesions. The facilitator of protein extraction is the ubiquitin-dependent ATPase valosin-containing protein (VCP)/p97 complex, which, through its segregase activity, directly extracts ubiquitylated proteins from chromatin. In this review, we summarize recent studies that uncovered this important role of VCP/p97 in the cellular response to genomic insults and discuss how ubiquitin regulates two intuitively counteracting activities at sites of DNA damage.
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