Cellular Responses to DNA Damage

National Institute Of Diabetes And Digestive And Kidney Diseases

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The goal of this project is to understand at a molecular level the ways in which the DNA mismatch repair system corrects replication errors and how mammalian cells respond to DNA damage. In collaboration with Dr. Dorothy Erie, UNC-Chapel Hill, we have used atomic force microscopy and biochemical approaches to examine the conformations of individual protein-DNA complexes. We have developed a cell reporter system to screen for cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in high-throughput assays of small molecule chemical libraries. We hope this reporter system will yield important new information in early rounds of library screening for apoptotic agents.