A direct role of RNA polymerase III and RNA in DNA homologous recombination

Sijie Liu; Daochun Kong

doi:10.1080/23723556.2021.1935173

A direct role of RNA polymerase III and RNA in DNA homologous recombination

Mol Cell Oncol. 2021 Jul 1;8(4):1935173. doi: 10.1080/23723556.2021.1935173. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Sijie Liu¹, Daochun Kong¹

Affiliation

¹ Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, the National Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Abstract

End resection excises several thousand bases from the 5'-ended strand during DNA double-strand break repair, creating 3'-end single-stranded DNA overhangs. This overhang requires strict protection from DNA2 or other nucleases digestion. A recent finding showed that the 3'-end overhangs are protected by the transient formation of RNA-DNA hybrids, and RNA polymerase III is an essential factor for homologous recombination.

Keywords: DNA double-strand breaks; RNA polymerase III; RNA–DNA hybrids; genetic deletion; homologous recombination.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 31230021), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2013CB911000), the Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, and the National Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research.