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nucleotide excision repair
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nucleotide excision repair

biochemistry
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Quick Summary

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a crucial cellular mechanism for maintaining the integrity of DNA. It corrects a wide range of DNA damage, particularly bulky lesions that distort the DNA double helix, such as those caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation or certain chemical agents. Unlike base excision repair, which removes single damaged bases, NER excises a larger segment of the DNA strand containing the lesion.12

The process involves recognizing the distortion in the DNA helix, making incisions on both sides of the damaged region, removing the excised segment, and then synthesizing new DNA to fill the gap, with the complementary strand serving as the template for accurate repair. Failures in NER can lead to severe consequences, such as the genetic disorder xeroderma pigmentosum, characterized by extreme sensitivity to sunlight and a high risk of skin cancer.12

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3 Britannica Sources
  1. base excision repair
  2. DNA repair
  3. nucleic acid - Repair

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