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DNA Damage Tolerance

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Encyclopedia of Cancer

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Synonyms

DNA lesion bypass; Postreplication repair; Replicative DNA lesion bypass

Definition

DNA damage tolerance is a biological mechanism in response to DNA damage which overcomes arrested DNA replication as a result of unrepaired DNA damage, leading to elimination of its potential lethal effects.

Characteristics

DNA is frequently damaged by endogenous and environmental factors. Base damage in DNA template strands blocks transcription to allow time to activate transcription-coupled repair pathways and eliminate DNA base damage. However, some lesions are persistent during replication therefore causing replication blockage and cell death. In order to overcome this problem, cells have evolved a damage tolerance system to allow complete replication in the presence of DNA damage. This process bypasses, rather removes, DNA damage, therefore, it is also named replicative bypass. It enables the cell to tolerate DNA damage and promote cell survival at the expense of high mutation rate. In...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Xianghong Wang

Authors
  1. Xianghong Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xianghong Wang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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Wang, X. (2015). DNA Damage Tolerance. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_1671-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_1671-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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