A mechanistic Simulation study of the initial steps in the DNA Base Excision Repair System

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Petra Imhof
• Subject Area: Biophysics
• Term: since 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 212215813

The Base excision repair (BER) system is a machinery of enzymes, recognising, removing, and correcting damages and mispairs in the DNA. In the first step glycosylases recognise a damaged or mispaired base and remove it via hydrolysis of the bond between base and sugar. Recently, two uracil specific glycosylases, hitherto considered mono-functional, have been shown to also perform strand incision. They thus constitute a back-up for the enzyme that is usually responsible for this second step of the BER pathway. We will investigate what allows this dual function, how this is related to specificity, and how to engineer another glycosylase with broader substrate range towards byfunctionality.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Norway
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Svein Bjelland; Professorin Dr. Hilde Nilsen