Dna Repair And Mutagenesis

An essential resource for all scientists researching cellular responses to DNA damage. • Introduces important new material reflective of the major changes and developments that have occurred in the field over the last decade. • Discussed the field within a strong historical framework, and all aspects of biological responses to DNA damage are detailed. • Provides information on covering sources and consequences of DNA damage; correcting altered bases in DNA: DNA repair; DNA damage tolerance and mutagenesis; regulatory responses to DNA damage in eukaryotes; and disease states associated with defective biological responses to DNA damage.

This is a major revision and updating of the classic work in the field of DNA repair by Errol Friedberg published in 1985. The authors have extensively revised the original text and provided more than 4000 references to current primary research literature. In addition, there are four new chapters on mutagenesis. The book will serve as an important reference resource for all courses in DNA repair and mutagenesis, and for molecular biologists working in many areas of cancer research.

Completely reorganized, the new edition presents a significant overhaul of the existing chapters and introduces important new material, reflective of the major changes and developments that have occurred in the field over the last decade. As with the first edition, this new volume presents the field within a strong historical framework and all aspects of biological responses to DNA damage are detailed. The book consists of 30 chapters divided into five main parts, covering: sources and consequences of DNA damage; correcting altered bases in DNA: DNA repair; DNA damage tolerance and mutagenesis; regulatory responses to DNA damage in eukaryotes; and disease states associated with defective biological responses to DNA damage. Basic principles are appropriately stressed; however, the book focuses on the significant progress to date and future research directions.

Not many years ago most discussion of mutation induction by physical and chemical agents concentrated on the initial lesions induced in the DNA with the implicit assumption that once the lesions were made they were converted almost automatically to mutations by relatively simple processes associated with DNA replication. The discovery of a variety of enzymatic processes that can repair these lesions, the great increase in our understanding of the molecular steps involved in repair, replication, and recombination, and the increasing availability of cells with genetic defects in these pro cesses have led to the realization that mutation induction is a far more complex process than we originally thought. Repair systems can remove lesions before they can be converted to mutation, they can also convert initial lesions to secondary ones that are them selves mutagenic, and they can remove potentially lethal lesions at the expense of making mutations. The error-avoiding systems asso ciated with replication are themselves complex and may be caused to make mistakes in various ways. These different pathways for mutation production and mutation avoidance are still being worked out in prokaryotes and are less well understood in eukaryotes. This symposium shows, however, that very encouraging progress has been made in the last several years, and the progress is now accelerating.

Cellular DNA is constantly bombarded with environmental and chemical assaults that damage its molecular structure. In addition, the normal process of DNA replication is prone to error and may introduce mutations that can be passed to daughter cells. If left unrepaired, these DNA lesions can have serious consequences, such as cancer. Written and edited by experts in the field, this collection from Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology reviews the mechanisms that cells use to recognize and repair various types of DNA damage. Contributors discuss base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, mismatch repair, homologous recombination, nonhomologous end joining, the SOS response, and other pathways in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and describe how these processes are linked to DNA replication, transcription, and cell cycle controls. The repair of telomeric and mitochondrial DNA is described, as is the influence of chromatin structure on DNA repair. This volume also includes discussion of human genetic diseases that involve defects in DNA damage repair. It is an essential reference for molecular and cell biologists, medical geneticists, cancer biologists, and all who want to understand how cells maintain genomic integrity.

''Useful and timely.'' ---Mutagenesis ''Of considerable value.'' ---Journal of Medical Genetics ''Quite readable....a comprehensive overview....perfectly covers the needs of those researchers who have to decide on the best strategy to identify damage or mutations at the molecular level.'' ---Trends in Cell Biology ''The formats of the presentations are uniform and ample and up-to-date references are provided at the end of each chapter...will be welcomed by postgraduate researchers of all ages and should retain its usefulness for a long time.'' ---Endeavour, 21(4), 1997 This important resource thoroughly reviews a wide range of techniques used in mutagenesis research-ranging from established techniques to recently developed methodologies-based on the polymerase chain reaction. DNA damage analysis, DNA repair assays, and mutation detection are a few of the techniques featured. Chapters present detailed experimental protocols benefiting researchers and students in the fields of toxicology, biotechniques, molecular biology, photobiology, medical genetics, and oncology.