DNA Repair and Its Pathogenetic Implications

作者：Vilhelm A. Bohr, Michele K. Evans, Albert J. Fornace · 发表于：Humana Press eBooks · 年份：1990 · DOI：10.1007/978-1-4612-0485-5_12 · 被引用次数：68 · 研究领域：Carcinogens and Genotoxicity Assessment、DNA Repair Mechanisms、Genetically Modified Organisms Research

The environment in which we live poses continuous threats to our genetic material. Ionizing radiation, ultraviolet light from the sun, and a multitude of chemical agents cause alterations of DNA that would be detrimental, were it not for the constant cellular monitoring and repair of most defects as they occur. In addition, cellular DNA is subject to spontaneous damage and loss of bases as well as changes in base sequence due to infidelity of replication or recombination. There are many endogenous chemical reactions that damage DNA. They arise from normal chemical reactions at 37°C such as depurination or the deamination of cytosine. If such damages were not repaired, as many as 10% of the bases in the DNA of an average cell of an elderly human would be altered (117). Such an accumulation of damage is not compatible with life as we know it unless very effective mechanisms exist to repair damaged DNA. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.