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Updated: Jun 18, 2025

Laser Microirradiation to Study In Vivo Cellular Responses to Simple and Complex DNA Damage
Published on: January 31, 2018
Chromatin remodeling and spatial concerns in DNA double-strand break repair
Jessica A Downs1, Susan M Gasser2
1Epigenetics and Genome Stability Team, The Institute of Cancer Research, 237 Fulham Road, London, SW3 6JB, UK.
Abstract:
The substrate for the repair of DNA damage in living cells is not DNA but chromatin. Chromatin bears a range of modifications, which in turn bind ligands that compact or open chromatin structure, and determine its spatial organization within the nucleus. In some cases, RNA in the form of RNA:DNA hybrids or R-loops modulates DNA accessibility. Each of these parameters can favor particular pathways of repair. Chromatin or nucleosome remodelers are key regulators of chromatin structure, and a number of remodeling complexes are implicated in DNA repair. We cover novel insights into the impact of chromatin structure, nuclear organization, R-loop formation, nuclear actin, and nucleosome remodelers in DNA double-strand break repair, focusing on factors that alter repair functional upon ablation.
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