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Molecular and Cellular Biology, June 2002, p. 4383-4389, Vol. 22, No. 12
0270-7306/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/MCB.22.12.4383-4389.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Sung-Lim Yu,,
Louise Prakash, and Satya Prakash*
Sealy Center for Molecular Science, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-1061
Received 11 January 2002/ Returned for modification 13 February 2002/ Accepted 12 March 2002
RAD26 in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the counterpart of the human Cockayne syndrome group B (CSB) gene. Both RAD26 and CSB act in the preferential repair of UV lesions on the transcribed strand, and in this process, they function together with the components of nucleotide excision repair (NER). Here, we examine the role of RAD26 in the repair of DNA lesions induced upon treatment with the alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). MMS-induced DNA lesions include base damages such as 3-methyl adenine and 7-methyl guanine, and these lesions are removed in yeast by the alternate competing pathways of base excision repair (BER), which is initiated by the action of MAG1-encoded N-methyl purine DNA glycosylase, and NER. Interestingly, a synergistic increase in MMS sensitivity was observed in the rad26
strain upon inactivation of NER or BER, indicating that RAD26 promotes the survival of MMS-treated cells by a mechanism that acts independently of either of these repair pathways. The galactose-inducible transcription of the GAL2, GAL7, and GAL10 genes is reduced in MMS-treated rad26
cells and also in mag1
rad14
cells, whereas a very severe reduction in transcription occurs in MMS-treated mag1
rad14
rad26
cells. From these observations, we infer that RAD26 plays a role in promoting transcription by RNA polymerase II through damaged bases. The implications of these observations are discussed in this paper.
Present address: WonKwang University, Iksan, Chonbuk 570-749, South Korea.
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