DNA damage and cell cycle checkpoints

DNA is prone to numerous forms of damage that can injure cells and impair fitness. Cells have evolved an array of mechanisms to repair these injuries. Proliferating cells are especially vulnerable to DNA damage due to the added demands of cellular growth and division. Cell cycle checkpoints represen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe FASEB journal Vol. 10; no. 2; p. 238
Main Authors Kaufmann, W K, Paules, R S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.02.1996
Subjects
Animals
Cell Cycle
Cell Division
Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21
Cyclins - physiology
DNA Damage
DNA Replication
Genes, p53 - physiology
Humans
Neoplasms - etiology
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Summary:DNA is prone to numerous forms of damage that can injure cells and impair fitness. Cells have evolved an array of mechanisms to repair these injuries. Proliferating cells are especially vulnerable to DNA damage due to the added demands of cellular growth and division. Cell cycle checkpoints represent integral components of DNA repair that coordinate cooperation between the machinery of the cell cycle and several biochemical pathways that respond to damage and restore DNA structure. By delaying progression through the cell cycle, checkpoints provide more time for repair before the critical phases of DNA replication, when the genome is replicated, and of mitosis, when the genome is segregated. Loss or attenuation of checkpoint function may increase spontaneous and induced gene mutations and chromosomal aberrations by reducing the efficiency of DNA repair. Defects in checkpoint control have been seen in certain hereditary cancer syndromes and at early stages of cell transformation. Mutations in checkpoint control genes therefore may contribute to the genetic instability that appears to drive neoplastic evolution.
ISSN:0892-6638
DOI:10.1096/fasebj.10.2.8641557