European Journal of Pediatrics

, Volume 135, Issue 2, pp 121–128 | Cite as

DNA repair: Pathways and defects

  • C. R. Bartram
Reviews
Received:

Abstract

Damaged DNA can be repaired by three different mechanisms: photoreactivation, excision repair and postreplication repair. Each mechanism is regulated by a highly specific set of enzymes. Defects within these systems result in diseases which have one common feature: affected individuals are cancer prone. Recently, newly developed methods not only make it possible to diagnose affected patients but also to detect individuals at risk. Furthermore, the results obtained elucidate some mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Clinical applications are discussed.

Key words

DNA repair Photoreactivation Excision repair Postreplication repair Carcinogenesis Chromosomal breakage Xeroderma pigmentosum Fanconi anaemia Ataxia teleangiectasia Bloom syndrome 
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1980

Authors and Affiliations

  • C. R. Bartram
    • 1
  1. 1.University Children's Hospital CDüsseldorfFederal Republic of Germany

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