Structures of Mre11-DNA reveal key steps in DNA repair

An excellent paper came out today in the Oct 3rd issue of Cell detailing structural, biochemical, and genetic studies of the Mre11-DNA complex and its role in detecting and repairing double-strand breaks in DNA. Both the SAXS and crystallography data were collected at the SIBYLS beamline. There is also a nice writeup by Paul Preuss which appears in the todays Berkeley Labs News Release.

“Mre11 dimers coordinate DNA end-bridging and nuclease processing in double-strand break repair” by R. Scott Williams, Gabriel Moncalian, Jessica S. Williams, Yoshiki Yamada, Oliver Limbo, David S. Shin, Lynda M. Groocock, Dana Cahill, Chiharu Hitomi, Grant Guenther, Davide Moiani, James P. Carney, Paul Russell, and John A. Tainer, appears in the 3 October 2008 issue of Cell.