The repair of oxidative and topoisomerase-induced chromosomal breaks: mechanisms and implications for human health

Breakage of a single strand of DNA is the most abundant DNA lesion in cells. It arises from oxidative damage or the actions of DNA ligases or topoisomerases. If these DNA breaks are not rapidly repaired then transcription can be impaired and double-strand DNA breaks can become more likely to occur during cellular replication. Dr El-Khamisy's research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms for the repair of oxidative and protein-linked DNA breaks in health and disease.