Genomes are subject to constant threat by damaging agents that generate DNA double-
strand breaks (DSBs). The ends of linear chromosomes need to be protected from DNA …

Homologous recombination is essential during meiosis in most sexually reproducing
organisms. In budding yeast, and most likely in other organisms as well, meiotic …

MRE11 and RAD50 are known to be required for nonhomologous joining of DNA ends in
vivo. We have investigated the enzymatic activities of the purified proteins and found that …

Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by
increased cancer incidence, cell cycle checkpoint defects, and ionizing radiation sensitivity …

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an HO endonuclease-induced double-strand break can be
repaired by at least two pathways of nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) that closely …

Saccharomyces cells suffering a single unrepairable double-strand break (DSB) exhibit a
long, but transient arrest at G2/M. hdf1 cells, lacking Ku70p, fail to escape from this …

The human Rad50 protein, classified as a structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC)
family member, is complexed with Mre11 (R/M) and has important functions in at least two …

The Mre11–Rad50–Nbs1 (MRN) complex is providing paradigm-shifting results of
exceptional biomedical interest. MRN is among the earliest respondents to DNA double …

The Nijmegen breakage syndrome gene product (Nbs1) was shown recently to associate in
vivo with the Mre11 and Rad50 proteins, which play pivotal roles in eukaryotic DNA double …

The Mre11 nuclease has been the subject of intensive investigation for the past 20 years
because of the central role that Mre11/Rad50 complexes play in genome maintenance. The …