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Abasic sites (Ap site, from apurinic/apyrimidinic) are one of the most common lesions generated in DNA by spontaneous base loss or DNA repair processes. There are two equilibrating forms of an Ap site - ring-open aldehyde and cyclic hemiacetal. Ring- opened aldehydes are reactive electrophilic groups capable of formation covalent adduct with nucleophilic sites in DNA. DNA interstrand cross-link (ICL) resulting from the Ap sites is formed spontaneously as a covalent bond between ring-open aldehyde and amin group of adenin residue in the opposite strand of double stranded DNA. ICLs block DNA replication and transcription. The formation of Ap site derived ICL is relatively long process taking several hours. We assume that the ring-opening of an abasic site is the rate-limiting step in the formation of the thermodynamic ICL. However, formation, stability and DNA repair of Ap-ICL are still poorly understood processes. Here, I have set up mechanistic in vitro experiments to reveal and calculate the probability of Ap-ICl formation in vivo. In more detail, I study the rates of formation of Ap-ICLs in the sequence context of neighbouring nucleotides of freshly formed covalent bond of ICL. I focus on sequence preference, the influence of AT/ GC rich regions and the length of oligonucleotides. I have...

O envelhecimento da população mundial no último século elevou significativamente o número de casos da doença de Alzheimer (DA), bem como os custos para os sistemas de saúde pública. Apesar de avanços significativos no entendimento da fisiopatologia da doença, pouco se sabe a respeito dos mecanismos moleculares que desencadeiam a perda de memória e a morte neuronal. Resultados recentes sugerem que o acúmulo de bases oxidadas no DNA mitocondrial e alterações nas vias que removem essas lesões desempenham um papel importante na morte neuronal observada em DA. A maioria das lesões em DNA induzidas oxidativamente são removidas pela via de reparo por excisão de bases (BER, do inglês Base Excision Repair). Resultados da literatura mostraram que a atividade da via BER está reduzida no lóbulo parietal e no cerebelo de pacientes com DA, quando comparadas com amostras de indivíduos com cognição normal da mesma faixa etária. Entretanto, esse trabalho mediu a atividade de BER apenas em extratos celulares totais. No presente estudo, foram medidas as atividades de BER em extratos mitocondriais de cérebros de indivíduos com DA, uma vez que lesões no DNA mitocondrial acumulam mais significativamente nos pacientes. Para testar a hipótese que alterações em BER mitocondrial estão associadas ao desenvolvimento da doença, foram analisadas atividades de BER em mitocôndrias em duas regiões cerebrais de indivíduos normais, indivíduos com DA e um grupo de indivíduos que apresentam alterações neuropatológicas de DA (agregados proteicos), porém que se mantiveram cognitivamente normais, nomeados DA assintomático. A atividade da enzima AP endonuclease apresentou-se elevada no cerebelo do grupo DA assintomático, enquanto que não apresentou variação no córtex temporal. Esses resultados sugerem que a preservação de APE1 no grupo DA assintomático pode exercer um papel protetor às lesões neuropatológicas, bem como indicar que as regiões cerebrais apresentam suscetibilidade distinta aos danos. Já a atividade de uracil DNA glicosilase está reduzida no cerebelo tanto em indivíduos com DA quanto com DA assintomático, quando comparados ao grupo controle, enquanto que, no córtex temporal, a redução é verificada somente no grupo DA. Além disso, observou-se que a atividade de UDG e o critério Braak apresentam uma correlação negativa. Os resultados referentes à enzima UDG sugerem que a redução da sua atividade compromete a viabilidade neuronal tornando as células mais propensas às lesões da DA. Assim, o comprometimento da via BER em mitocôndriais de cérebros humanos pode contribuir para os eventos moleculares que ocasionam a morte neuronal associada ao desenvolvimento de DA. / The number of Alzheimer\'s disease cases (AD) has increased steadly over the last century, paralleling a sharp rise in mean Iife expectancy. Consequently, AD- associated public health costs have also increased. Despite several important findings in AD physiopathology, a clear understanding of the molecular events leading to memory loss and neuronal death is still lacking. Recent results show that oxidized DNA lesions accumulate in mitochondrial DNA in neurodegenerative diseases, including AD. Moreover, alterations in DNA repair may also play a causative role in neuronal death. Most oxidized lesions are repaired by the Base Excision Repair (BER) pathway. It has been recently shown that BER activities are reduced in whole cell extracts from parietal lobule and cerebellum from AD patients, when compared with age-matched controls. As accumulation of oxidized bases is seen more prominently in mitochondrial DNA, here we investigated whether changes in BER activities in mitochondria are associated with the development of AD. Thus, we measured BER activities in mitochondria from two brain regions from age-matched normal individuais, AD patients and a group of individuais that show AD-like neuropathological alterations but remained cognitively normal, thus called asymptomatic AD. AP endonuclease activity is elevated in asymptomatic AD cerebellum, while not changed in temporal cortex. Theses results suggest that APE1 activity in asymptomatic AD may play a protective role against neuropatological lesions, and indicate that brain regions show different susceptibility to damage. On the other hand, uracil DNA glycosylase activity is reduced in cerebellum in both AD and asymptomatic individuais, when compared to controls. In temporal cortex, this reduction is observed only in AD group. In addition, UDG activity and Braak stage showed a significant negative correlation. These results indicate that decreased UDG activity may compromise neuronal viability, making the cells more prone to AD lesions. Thus, impairtment of BER in human brain mitochondria may contribute to the molecular events that cause neuronal death during the development of this disease.

INTRODUÇÃO: Tradicionalmente, a omentectomia total (OT) é realizada juntamente com a ressecção gástrica associada à linfadenectomia na cirurgia do câncer gástrico (CG). No entanto, evidências sólidas em relação ao seu benefício oncológico são escassas. Este estudo foi elaborado para avaliar a incidência de metástases em linfonodos (LN) do grande omento em pacientes submetidos à gastrectomia potencialmente curativa por CG, assim como, avaliar os fatores de risco para a ocorrência de linfonodos metastáticos no grande omento e a evolução dos pacientes. PACIENTES E MÉTODOS: Foram avaliados 284 pacientes operados pelo Serviço de Cirurgia de Estômago, Duodeno e Intestino Delgado do HCFMUSP, no período de março de 2009 a abril de 2016, com diagnóstico de adenocarcinoma. Critérios de inclusão: pacientes submetidos a cirurgias potencialmente curativas com ressecção R0, com linfadenectomia a D2 ou D2 modificada conforme preconizado pela Escola Japonesa. Foram excluídos os pacientes que apresentaram doença disseminada ou metástases a distância, mesmo sendo submetidos a ressecções paliativas, assim como, pacientes com invasão macroscópica do grande omento, pacientes com neoplasias sincrônicas ou metacrônicas, neoplasia de coto gástrico, cirurgia com menos de 15 LN ressecados e ausência de tumor na análise anatomopatológica. O tempo de seguimento de todos os pacientes variou entre 1 e 89,5 meses, com mediana de 27,6 meses. O tempo de seguimento mediano dos pacientes livres de doença foi de 34,3 meses (mínimo de 1 e máximo de 89,5). A associação entre o acometimento de LN no omento com variáveis categóricas foram investigadas por testes exatos de Fisher ou teste qui-quadrado e com variáveis numéricas por testes de Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney. Adotou-se nível de significância de 5%. RESULTADOS: A média de idade foi 61,8 anos (±11,9; entre 25 e 86). Dos 284 pacientes, cinco (1,8%) tinham LN metastáticos no grande omento (um: pT3N3bM0; dois: pT4aN3bM0; um: pT4aN2M0 e um pT4bN3bM0). Quatro deles faleceram e um estava sob tratamento paliativo com quimioterapia devido à recidiva da doença. Os LN metastáticos no grande omento tiveram correlação significativa com o tamanho do tumor, no qual se encontrou o ponto de corte de 5,25cm (área sob a curva ROC: 0,8072; IC95%: 0,6645 - 0,9498), estádio N (p < 0,001), estádio clínico (p=0,022), invasão venosa (p=0,003), recorrência (p=0,006), local de recorrência (peritôneo: p=0,008; fígado: p=0,023; ovário: p=0,035) e óbito (p=0,008). CONCLUSÃO: A incidência de LN metastático no grande omento de pacientes submetidos à gastrectomia radical por CG é baixa. A OT pode ser evitada em tumores menores que 5,25 cm e estádios T1/T2. Entretanto, a presença de metástases linfonodais no grande omento está associada a recidiva no peritônio, fígado, ovário e óbito / BACKGROUND: Traditionally, total omentectomy is performed along with gastric resection and extended lymphadenectomy in gastric cancer (GC) surgery. However, solid evidences regarding its oncologic benefit still lacks. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of metastatic omental lymph nodes (LN) in patients undergoing potentially curative gastrectomy for GC, as well as its risk factors and patients\' outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In order to perform this analysis, 284 patients with adenocarcinoma operated at the Department of Surgery of Stomach, Duodenum and Small Intestine at HCFMUSP from March 2009 to April 2016 were reviewed. Inclusion criteria was: patients who underwent potentially curative R0 surgery with D2 lymphadenectomy as recommended by the Japanese School. Patients with disseminated disease or distant metastases, even if undergoing palliative resections were excluded from the study. As well as patients with macroscopic omental invasion, synchronic or metachronous neoplasms, gastric stump neoplasia, surgery with less than 15 harvested LN and absence of tumor in pathological analysis. The follow-up period of all patients ranged from 1 to 89.5 months, with a median of 27.6 months. The median follow-up period of disease-free patients was 34.3 months (minimum of 1 and maximum of 89.5 months). The association between omental LN involvement with categorical variables was investigated by Fisher\'s exact tests or chi-square test and numerical variables by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests. A significance level of 5% was adopted. RESULTS: The mean age was 61.8 years (± 11.9, range 25 - 86). Of 284 patients included, five (1.8%) patients had metastatic omental LN (one: pT3N3bM0; two: pT4aN3bM0; one: pT4aN2M0 and one pT4bN3bM0). Four of them deceased and one was under palliative chemotherapy due relapse. LN metastases in the greater omentum significantly correlated with tumor\'s size in which the cut-off found was 5.25cm (area under the ROC curve: 0.8072; IC95%: 0.6645 - 0.9498), N stage (p < 0.001), clinical stage (p=0.022), venous growth (p=0.003), recurrence (p=0.006), site of recurrence (peritoneum: p=0.008; liver: p=0.023; ovary: p=0.035) and death (p=0.008). CONCLUSION: The incidence of metastatic omental LN of patients undergoing radical gastrectomy due to GC is extremely low and may be avoided in tumors smaller than 5.25cm and T1/T2 tumors. Though, when present is associated with recurrence in peritoneum, liver, ovary and death

INTRODUÇÃO: A excisão total do mesorreto é o procedimento cirúrgico padrão para o tratamento do adenocarcinoma do reto. Resultados satisfatórios, em termos de prognóstico, alcançados com a associação da linfonodectomia retroperitoneal e pélvica lateral questionam se somente a excisão total do mesorreto seria suficiente para um estadiamento adequado, podendo afetar decisões relacionadas ao tratamento adjuvante. Este estudo avaliou o impacto das metástases em linfonodos retroperitoneais e/ou pélvicos laterais na mudança do estadiamento de pacientes com adenocarcinoma do reto e a acurácia da identificação de metástases em linfonodos das cadeias retroperitoneais e/ou pélvicas laterais com o uso de tecnécio-99m-fitato e/ou azul patente. MÉTODOS: Foi realizado estudo prospectivo de janeiro de 2004 a agosto de 2008, composto por 97 pacientes com adenocarcinoma do reto extraperitoneal submetidos a tratamento cirúrgico curativo com excisão total do mesorreto e linfonodectomia retroperitoneal e pélvica lateral, com pesquisa de linfonodos das cadeias retroperitoneais e pélvicas laterais identificados com tecnécio-99m-fitato e/ou corados em azul patente. Os linfonodos radioativos e/ou azuis, quando negativos ao exame histopatológico com hematoxilina-eosina, foram submetidos à multisecções histológicas com uso de técnicas imunohistoquímicas com anticorpos anticitoqueratinas (AE1/AE3). RESULTADOS: A média de linfonodos nas peças de excisão total do mesorreto foi de 11,5 (1119/97) e nas cadeias retroperitoneais e pélvicas laterais foi de 11,7 (1136/97). A linfonodectomia retroperitoneal e pélvica lateral identificou metástases em 17,5% dos pacientes do estudo e promoveu aumento do estádio TNM II para III em 8,2% dos pacientes. As variáveis relacionadas à presença de linfonodos retroperitoneais e/ou pélvicos laterais metastáticos foram o estádio III estabelecido na peça cirúrgica da excisão total do mesorreto (P < 0,04); a classificação pT3/pT4 do tumor primário (P = 0,047); níveis elevados de antígeno carcinoembrionário, com média de 30,6 ng/ml e mediana de 9,9 ng/ml (P = 0,014); e grandes tumores, com tamanho médio de 5,5 ± 3,2 cm (P = 0,03). A migração do tecnécio e/ou azul patente para linfonodos retroperitoneais e/ou pélvicos laterais ocorreu em 37,1% (36/97), modificando o estadiamento em 11,1% dos pacientes estudados. A acurácia do uso do tecnécio e/ou azul patente na detecção de metástases nos linfonodos retroperitoneais e pélvicos laterais foi de 100%, com sensibilidade de 100%, valor preditivo negativo de 100% e zero de falso-negativos. CONCLUSÕES: Deve-se aprimorar o uso de marcadores na identificação de metástases para indicação seletiva da linfonodectomia retroperitoneal e pélvica lateral em adenocarcinoma retal. / BACKGROUND: Total mesorectal excision is the standard surgical procedure for rectal adenocarcinoma treatment. Good prognostic results achieved with retroperitoneal and lateral pelvic lymphadenectomy have questioned that total mesorectal excision might not be satisfactory for adequate patient staging, affecting adjuvant therapeutic definitions. The aims of this study were to define the upstaging impact of metastasis to retroperitoneal and/or lateral pelvic nodes in patients with rectal adenocarcinoma and the accuracy of dye and/or probe search in the detection of metastatic retroperitoneal and/or lateral pelvic nodes. METHODS: A prospective study was carried on from January of 2004 to August of 2008, composed of 97 extraperitoneal rectal adenocarcinoma patients submitted to curative intent surgeries with total mesorectal excision and retroperitoneal and lateral pelvic lymphadenectomy, with retroperitoneal and lateral pelvic nodes mapping using technetium-99m-phytate and/or patent blue. The radioactive and/or blue nodes, when negative to histopathological hematoxylin-eosin staining, were submitted to step-sectioning and immunohistochemical examination with antibody against cytokeratin (AE1/AE3). RESULTS: Mean node count of the mesorectal excision specimen was 11.5 (1119/97) and of the retroperitoneal and lateral pelvic lymphadenectomy was 11.7 (1136/97). Retroperitoneal and lateral pelvic lymphadenectomy identified metastasis in 17.5% of the studied patients and modified TNM stage II to III in 8.2% of the patients. Factors related to metastatic retroperitoneal and lateral pelvic nodes were stage III defined by examination of the surgical specimen of the total mesorectal excision (P < 0,004); tumor pT3/pT4 classification (P = 0,047); high levels of carcinoembryonic antigen, with average of 30.6 ng/ml and median of 9.9 ng/ml (P = 0,014); and large tumors, with mean size of 5.5 cm ± 3,2 cm (P = 0,03). Technetium and/or patent blue migration to retroperitoneal and/or lateral pelvic nodes occurred in 37.1% (36/97), upstaging 11.1% of the studied patients. Technetium and/or patent blue accuracy in the detection of metastasis to retroperitoneal and/or lateral pelvic nodes was of 100%, with sensibility of 100%, negative predictive value of 100% and zero false negatives. CONCLUSIONS: The use of markers should be improved in the identification of metastasis for selective indication of retroperitoneal and lateral pelvic lymphadenectomy.

mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) é uma proteína com papel central no crescimento, na proliferação e na manutenção das células, que participa da formação de dois complexos, mTORC1 e mTORC2. Diversos estudos associam menor atividade de mTOR, em especial o complexo 1, com efeitos protetores contra o envelhecimento e mesmo aumento da expectativa de vida máxima. Alterações no DNA têm sido propostas desde cedo na história dos estudos bioquímicos sobre o envelhecimento como um fator causar da perda de função dos organismos com a idade. Muitos estudos já foram realizados tentando analisar diversos aspectos do acúmulo de alterações no DNA e da capacidade de reparo com a idade. No entanto, a possível relação entre mTOR e reparo de DNA foi muito pouco explorada, em especial em relação ao DNA mitocondrial. Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar o papel de mTOR na regulação dos níveis de reparo de DNA, em especial da via de reparo por excisão de bases (BER). Os resultados demonstraram que, aparentemente, mTOR surte algum efeito na regulação de duas enzimas da via BER (APE1 e Pol&#947;), além de TFAM, diminuído os níveis das três, tanto no núcleo quanto nas mitocôndrias. No entanto, a atividade de incisão de oligonucleotídeos de APE1 não demonstrou alteração, e indução de apoptose por indução de estresse oxidativo revelou que células com menor expressão de mTOR se encontravam mais resistentes. Adicionalmente, a inibição de mTOR pareceu não alterar o número decópias de DNA mitocondrial e a massa mitocondrial, sugerindo que as células com knockdown de mTOR possuem uma maior reserva respiratória. Em conjunto, os resultados sugerem um possível envolvimento de mTOR na regulação de BER, mesmo que indiretamente, embora não estaja claro por qual via, ou por qual complexo de mTOR / mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) is a central protein in the regulation of cell growth, proliferation and maintenance, that participates in the formation of two complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2. Several studies associate a lower activity of mTOR, especially complex 1, with beneficial effects against aging, and even increased maximum lifespan. DNA alterations have been proposed since the beginnings of the history of the biochemical studies on aging to be a cause of the loss of function that in observed in organisms with age. Several studies have been carried out to analyze several aspects of DNA alterations and DNA repair with age. However, the possible relationship between mTOR and DNA repair has not been explored satisfactorily, especially in relation to mitochondrial DNA. This study had the objective of evaluating the role of mTOR in the regulation of the levels of DNA repair, especially the base excision repair (BER) pathway. The results showed that, apparently, mTOR has some effect in the regulation of two enzymes of the BER pathway (APE1 and Pol&#947;), as well as TFAM, decreasing their levels, both in the nucleus and in the mitochondria. However, APE1 oligonucleotide incision activity was not diminished, and apoptosis induction by methylene blue treatment revealed that cells with mTOR knockdown were more resistant. Addicionally, mTOR inhibition didnt seem to alter mitochondrial DNA copy number and mitochondrial mass, suggesting that mTOR knockdown cells have more respiratory reserve. Takentogether, these results suggest a possible role for mTOR in the regulation of BER, even if indirectly, although it is not clear through which pathway, or which mTOR complex

Endogenous and exogenous agents that can damage DNA are a constant threat to genome stability in all living cells. In response, cells have evolved an array of mechanisms to repair DNA damage or to eliminate the cells damaged beyond repair. One of these mechanisms is nucleotide excision repair (NER) which is the major repair pathway responsible for removing a wide variety of bulky DNA lesions. Deficiency, or mutation, in one or several of the NER repair proteins is responsible for many diseases, including cancer. Prokaryotic NER involves only three proteins to recognize and incise a damaged site, while eukaryotic NER requires more than 25 proteins to efficiently recognize and incise a damaged site. XPC-RAD23B (XPC) is the damage recognition factor in eukaryotic global genome NER. The association rate of XPC to damaged DNA has been extensively studied; however, our data suggests that the dissociation of the XPC-DNA complex is the rate-limiting step in NER. The factor that verifies DNA-damage downstream of XPC is XPA. XPA also has been implicated in binding of ds-ssDNA junctions and has been found to bind at or near double-strand break sites in the premature aging syndrome Hutchinson-Gilford progeria (HGPS). This role for XPA is outside of its known function in NER and suggests that XPA may bind at collapsed replication forks in HGPS that are unprotected due to a lack of binding by replication proteins. Along with XPC and XPA, ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR) is activated in response to DNA damage and initiates the cell cycle checkpoint pathway to rescue cells from genomic instability. We found that ATR functions outside of its known role in the checkpoint signaling cascade. Our data demonstrate that ATR can rescue cells from apoptosis by inhibiting cytochrome c release at the mitochondria though direct interaction with the outer mitochondrial membrane and the proapoptotic protein tBid. The role of ATR in apoptosis is regulated by Pin1, which can change the structure of ATR at the backbone level. All of the results presented here suggest novel roles for DNA repair proteins in the maintenance of genome stability.

Let X be a real Banach space and G1, G2 two nonempty, open and bounded subsets of X such that 0 ∈ G2 and G2 ⊂ G1. The problem (∗) T x + Cx = 0 is considered, where T : X ⊃ D(T) → X is an accretive or monotone operator with 0 ∈ D(T) and T(0) = 0, while C : X ⊃ D(C) → X can be, e.g., one of the following types: (a) compact; (b) continuous and bounded with the resolvents of T compact; (c) demicontinuous, bounded and of type (S+) with T positively homogeneous of degree one; (d) quasi-bounded and satisfies a generalized (S+)-condition w.r.t. the operator T, while T is positively homogeneous of degree one. Solutions are sought for the problem (∗) lying in the set D(T + C) ∩ (G1 \ G2). Nontrivial solutions of (∗) exist even when C(0) = 0. The degree theories of Leray and Schauder, Browder, and Skrypnik as well as the degree theory by Kartsatos and Skrypnik for densely defined operators T, C are used. The last three degree theories do not assume any compactness conditions on the operator C. The excision and additivity properties of these degree theories are employed, and the main results are significant extensions or generalizations of previous results by Krasnoselskii, Guo, Ding and Kartsatos involving the relaxation of compactness conditions and/or conditions on the boundedness of the operator T. Moreover, a new degree theory developed by Kartsatos and Skrypnik has been used to prove a similar result for operators of type T + C, where T : X ⊃ D(T) → 2 X∗ is a multi-valued maximal monotone operator, with 0 ∈ D(T) and 0 ∈ T(0), and C : X ⊃ D(C) → X∗ is a densely defined quasi-bounded and finitely continuous operator of type (S˜+). The problem of existence of nonzero solutions for T x + Cx + Gx 3 0 is also considered. Here, T is maximal monotone, C is bounded demicontinuous of type (S+), and G is of class (P). Eigenvalue and invariance of domain results have also been established for the sum L + T + C : G ∩ D(L) → 2 X∗ , where G ⊂ X is open and bounded, L : X ⊃ D(L) → X∗ densely defined linear maximal monotone, T : X → 2X∗ bounded maximal monotone, and C : G → X∗ bounded demicontinuous of type (S+) w. r. t. D(L).

DNA bases can be modified by endogenous agents (e.g. oxidized by products of respiration and photosynthesis or methylated by gene silencing processes) as well as by environmental agents (e.g. oxidized by UV light). In the process of removing modified bases, a 3’-phosphate group is sometimes left in the resulting gap, and has to be removed since it blocks the incorporation of a new nucleotide by DNA polymerase. The aim of this thesis was the characterization of AtZDP, a plant enzyme with a DNA 3’-phosphatase activity. By homologous modeling, the existence of four domains was predicted in AtZDP, three independent zinc-finger and one DNA 3’-phosphatase domains. AtZDP was found to be localized in the nucleus by bimolecular fluorescence complementation. Western blotting analysis showed that the enzyme was ubiquitously expressed in plant tissues. AtZDP was found in a 600,000 molecular-weight protein complex by gel chromatography and glycerol gradient sedimentation centrifugation. The fractions containing AtZDP in the complex displayed 3’-DNA phosphatase activity as shown by desphosphorylation of a DNA oligonucleotide with a 3’-phosphate terminus. Also fractions of the gel chromatography corresponding to lower molecular weight showed 3’-DNA phosphatase activity, but antibodies against AtZDP did not recognize this fraction inferring that in plants, at least another protein with similar activity exists. In mammals, polynucleotide kinase, an enzyme with the same activity phosphatase activity as AtZDP, is involved in single-strand and double-strand repair pathways. To elucidate if AtZDP could be part of similar pathways, different double strand and single-strand oligonucleotides with 3’-phosphate termini were separately incubated with AtZDP. All substrates were dephosphorylated by AtZDP, assuming that this enzyme could potentially be involved in double-strand DNA repair. A double-strand oligonucleotide containing a one-bp gap with a 3’-phosphate terminus was repaired by a leaf protein extract. The activities of a 3’-DNA phosphatase, a flap 5’ to 3’ endonuclease-like, a DNA polymerase and a DNA ligase were observed. The presence of these enzymes revealed that these damages are in plants predominantly repaired by long-patch base excision repair.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, 2009. / Title from screen (viewed on February 2, 2010). Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Mark R. Kelley, Millie M. Georgiadis, John J. Turchi, Martin L. Smith. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-133).