DNA_Repair.jpg
Summary
Description DNA Repair.jpg |
DNA damage, due to environmental factors and normal metabolic processes inside the cell, occurs at a rate of 1,000 to 1,000,000 molecular lesions per cell per day. A special enzyme, DNA ligase (shown here in color), encircles the double helix to repair a broken strand of DNA. DNA ligase is responsible for repairing the millions of DNA breaks generated during the normal course of a cell's life. Without molecules that can mend such breaks, cells can malfunction, die, or become cancerous. DNA ligases catalyse the crucial step of joining breaks in duplex DNA during DNA repair , replication and recombination , and require either Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) or Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) as a cofactor. Shown here is DNA ligase I repairing chromosomal damage. The three visable protein structures are:
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Date | ||||||||||
Source | Biomedical Beat, Cool Image Gallery | |||||||||
Author | Tom Ellenberger, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. | |||||||||
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