Chromatin dynamics during nucleotide excision repair: histones on the move

• Published in: International Journal of Molecular Sciences Vol. 13; no. 9; pp. 11895 - 11911
• Main Authors: Adam, Salomé, Polo, Sophie E
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.09.2012; MDPI; Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI)
• Subjects: Animals; Chaperones; Chromatin; Chromatin - metabolism; Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly - physiology; DNA Damage; DNA Repair - physiology; histone chaperone; histone dynamics; Histones; Histones - metabolism; Humans; Life Sciences; Nucleosome remodeling factor; Nucleotide Excision Repair; Review; Reviews; ubiquitylation; Nucleotide Excision Repair; UV; histone dynamics; chromatin; histone chaperone; ubiquitylation; nucleosome remodeling factor
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms130911895

It has been a long-standing question how DNA damage repair proceeds in a nuclear environment where DNA is packaged into chromatin. Several decades of analysis combining in vitro and in vivo studies in various model organisms ranging from yeast to human have markedly increased our understanding of the mechanisms underlying chromatin disorganization upon damage detection and re-assembly after repair. Here, we review the methods that have been developed over the years to delineate chromatin alterations in response to DNA damage by focusing on the well-characterized Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) pathway. We also highlight how these methods have provided key mechanistic insight into histone dynamics coupled to repair in mammals, raising new issues about the maintenance of chromatin integrity. In particular, we discuss how NER factors and central players in chromatin dynamics such as histone modifiers, nucleosome remodeling factors, and histone chaperones function to mobilize histones during repair.