DNA damage causes cancer, but can induce cell death as well. DNA double-strand break is the most serious damage to cause cancer and cell death at the highest rate, unless the break is repaired.  It has been known that Ku proteins bind to and repair double-strand break in human cells.  A research group led by Professor Akira Yasui at Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University has first developed a technology to produce human cells with a number of double-strand breaks at the specific part of human DNA to allow visualization and analysis of protein assembly.

 The result shows that proteins called chromatin remodeling factors that mobile proteins called chromatin around DNA should assemble at double-strand break sites before Ku proteins accumulate at the sites in order to start repair of the breaks. These factors are also essential for homologous recombination that is another mechanism to repair double-strand breaks. When one of these factors is mutated, double-strand break can not be fully repaired and may become a cancer cell.  Furthermore, these data suggest that cancer cells with defective chromatin remodeling factor can be treated effectively with chemo- or radiation therapy to cause double-strand breaks in DNA.

 The research result was published online in the last edition of Molecular Cell in 2010.  The paper’s title is “The ACF1 complex is required for DNA double-strand break repair in human cells.”
(http://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/abstract/S1097-2765(10)00959-7)

[Contact]
Professor Akira Yasui
Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University
Address: 4-1 Seiryo-machi Aoba-ku Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8575, Japan
TEL: +81-22-717-8465
E-mail: ayasui*idac.tohoku.ac.jp (Replace * with @)