Definition
Mismatch repair acts after replication to correct mismatches which have escaped proofreading by the replication apparatus. Thus mismatch repair corrects DNA bases in non-Watson–Crick pairings or small distortions generated by incorrect strand alignment in repetitive DNA sequences. Structural abnormalities such as these can also be generated during recombination between DNA molecules which are not perfectly homologous (Repair of DNA).
Characteristics
The first step in human mismatch repair is the binding of DNA mispairs by either the MutSα or the MutSβ heterodimer. These comprise of the MSH2/MSH6 and hMSH2/MSH3 proteins, respectively. Biochemical evidence obtained with purified complexes indicates that MutSα selectively recognizes single base mispairs and one base loop, whereas MutSβ prefers loops of 2–10 unpaired bases. Both bind to the two base loops that are the most common abnormalities in repetitive DNA sequences (Fig. 1). MutSα most likely forms a sliding clamp, which...
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References
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Bignami, M. (2015). Mismatch Repair in Genetic Instability. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_3760-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_3760-2
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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