Postreplication repair in mammalian cells after ultraviolet irradiation: a model

A model is presented for bypass of ultraviolet-induced damage in DNA during replication. The overall process is initiated by the introduction of a single-strand break into parental DNA near the point of arrest of synthesis, followed by a transient crossing-over step similar to that envisaged in genetic recombination. The mechanism proposed provides an alternative explanation to existing models and is entirely consistent with available data on postreplication repair in mammalian cells. In addition the model explains the low level of recombination repair observed in mammalian cells.