Ma Yunmei, Lieber Michael R
Department of Pathology, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA.
Methods Enzymol. 2006;408:502-10. doi: 10.1016/S0076-6879(06)08031-1.
The nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway is the major pathway that repairs DNA double strand breaks in multicellular eukaryotic organisms. Unlike homologous recombination, the NHEJ pathway utilizes minimal or no homology between the ends that need to be joined. Although the resulting NHEJ-repaired junctions can be diverse in sequence, they share a few common features, including frequent nucleolytic resection of the ends, near-random junctional additions, and utilization of microhomology. The in vitro NHEJ assay was developed in an attempt to recapitulate the joining of incompatible ends with purified core proteins and some additional factors. This in vitro system allows further understanding of the biochemical features of the pathway and evaluation of the functions of other proteins in NHEJ.
非同源末端连接（NHEJ）途径是多细胞真核生物中修复DNA双链断裂的主要途径。与同源重组不同，NHEJ途径在需要连接的末端之间利用极少的同源性或不利用同源性。尽管最终经NHEJ修复的连接点在序列上可能多种多样，但它们具有一些共同特征，包括末端的频繁核酸切除、近乎随机的连接点添加以及微同源性的利用。体外NHEJ检测方法的开发旨在通过纯化的核心蛋白和一些其他因子来模拟不相容末端的连接。这个体外系统有助于进一步了解该途径的生化特性，并评估其他蛋白质在NHEJ中的功能。
