Regulation of DNA repair throughout the cell cycle

Abstract

The repair of DNA lesions that occur endogenously or in response to diverse genotoxic stresses is indispensable for maintaining genome integrity. The types of DNA lesion and the checkpoint pathways that are activated in response to DNA damage influence the DNA-repair pathways according to the cell-cycle phase. Failure to coordinate DNA repair with cell-cycle progression can cause genome instability, cell death and cancer. Phosphorylation events that are mediated by cyclin-dependent kinases and checkpoints regulate DNA repair according to the cell-cycle stage. Certain DNA-repair pathways are attenuated in non-dividing cells that probably possess dedicated mechanisms to repair endogenous lesions. SUMO and ubiquitin modifications are crucial in the regulation of the stability and activity of key components of DNA repair and checkpoint machineries, thereby regulating important cell-cycle events.