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123-504: RecA has multiple activities, all related to DNA repair . In the bacterial SOS response , it has a co- protease function in the autocatalytic cleavage of the LexA repressor and the λ repressor. The RecA protein binds strongly and in long clusters to ssDNA to form a nucleoprotein filament. The protein has more than one DNA binding site , and thus can hold a single strand and double strand together. This feature makes it possible to catalyze

246-431: A complementary language. During transcription, a DNA sequence is read by an RNA polymerase , which produces a complementary, antiparallel RNA strand called a primary transcript . In virology , the term transcription is used when referring to mRNA synthesis from a viral RNA molecule. The genome of many RNA viruses is composed of negative-sense RNA which acts as a template for positive sense viral messenger RNA -

369-477: A CpG island while only about 6% of enhancer sequences have a CpG island. CpG islands constitute regulatory sequences, since if CpG islands are methylated in the promoter of a gene this can reduce or silence gene transcription. DNA methylation regulates gene transcription through interaction with methyl binding domain (MBD) proteins, such as MeCP2, MBD1 and MBD2. These MBD proteins bind most strongly to highly methylated CpG islands . These MBD proteins have both

492-609: A DNA synapsis reaction between a DNA double helix and a complementary region of single-stranded DNA. The RecA-ssDNA filament searches for sequence similarity along the dsDNA. A disordered DNA loop in RecA, Loop 2, contains the residues responsible for DNA homologous recombination . In some bacteria, RecA posttranslational modification via phosphorylation of a serine residue on Loop 2 can interfere with homologous recombination. There are multiple proposed models for how RecA finds complementary DNA. In one model, termed conformational proofreading ,

615-456: A G[8,5-Me]T-modified plasmid in E. coli with specific DNA polymerase knockouts. Viability was very low in a strain lacking pol II, pol IV, and pol V, the three SOS-inducible DNA polymerases, indicating that translesion synthesis is conducted primarily by these specialized DNA polymerases. A bypass platform is provided to these polymerases by Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Under normal circumstances, PCNA bound to polymerases replicates

738-409: A barrier to all DNA-based processes that require recruitment of enzymes to their sites of action. To allow DNA repair, the chromatin must be remodeled . In eukaryotes, ATP dependent chromatin remodeling complexes and histone-modifying enzymes are two predominant factors employed to accomplish this remodeling process. Chromatin relaxation occurs rapidly at the site of a DNA damage. In one of

861-443: A cell leaves it with an important decision: undergo apoptosis and die, or survive at the cost of living with a modified genome. An increase in tolerance to damage can lead to an increased rate of survival that will allow a greater accumulation of mutations. Yeast Rev1 and human polymerase η are members of Y family translesion DNA polymerases present during global response to DNA damage and are responsible for enhanced mutagenesis during

984-455: A cell undergoes division (see Hayflick limit ). In contrast, quiescence is a reversible state of cellular dormancy that is unrelated to genome damage (see cell cycle ). Senescence in cells may serve as a functional alternative to apoptosis in cases where the physical presence of a cell for spatial reasons is required by the organism, which serves as a "last resort" mechanism to prevent a cell with damaged DNA from replicating inappropriately in

1107-446: A cell's ability to carry out its function and appreciably increase the likelihood of tumor formation and contribute to tumor heterogeneity . The vast majority of DNA damage affects the primary structure of the double helix; that is, the bases themselves are chemically modified. These modifications can in turn disrupt the molecules' regular helical structure by introducing non-native chemical bonds or bulky adducts that do not fit in

1230-599: A common global response. The probable explanation for this difference between yeast and human cells may be in the heterogeneity of mammalian cells. In an animal different types of cells are distributed among different organs that have evolved different sensitivities to DNA damage. In general global response to DNA damage involves expression of multiple genes responsible for postreplication repair , homologous recombination, nucleotide excision repair, DNA damage checkpoint , global transcriptional activation, genes controlling mRNA decay, and many others. A large amount of damage to

1353-524: A gene can be prevented, and thus translation into a protein will also be blocked. Replication may also be blocked or the cell may die. In contrast to DNA damage, a mutation is a change in the base sequence of the DNA. A mutation cannot be recognized by enzymes once the base change is present in both DNA strands, and thus a mutation cannot be repaired. At the cellular level, mutations can cause alterations in protein function and regulation. Mutations are replicated when

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1476-417: A global response to DNA damage in eukaryotes. Experimental animals with genetic deficiencies in DNA repair often show decreased life span and increased cancer incidence. For example, mice deficient in the dominant NHEJ pathway and in telomere maintenance mechanisms get lymphoma and infections more often, and, as a consequence, have shorter lifespans than wild-type mice. In similar manner, mice deficient in

1599-547: A heterodimeric complex with DDB1 . This complex further complexes with the ubiquitin ligase protein CUL4A and with PARP1 . This larger complex rapidly associates with UV-induced damage within chromatin, with half-maximum association completed in 40 seconds. The PARP1 protein, attached to both DDB1 and DDB2, then PARylates (creates a poly-ADP ribose chain) on DDB2 that attracts the DNA remodeling protein ALC1 . Action of ALC1 relaxes

1722-671: A highly complex form of DNA damage as clustered damage. It consists of different types of DNA lesions in various locations of the DNA helix. Some of these closely located lesions can probably convert to DSB by exposure to high temperatures. But the exact nature of these lesions and their interactions is not yet known Translesion synthesis (TLS) is a DNA damage tolerance process that allows the DNA replication machinery to replicate past DNA lesions such as thymine dimers or AP sites . It involves switching out regular DNA polymerases for specialized translesion polymerases (i.e. DNA polymerase IV or V, from

1845-414: A human cell ) generally bind to specific motifs on an enhancer and a small combination of these enhancer-bound transcription factors, when brought close to a promoter by a DNA loop, govern level of transcription of the target gene. Mediator (a complex usually consisting of about 26 proteins in an interacting structure) communicates regulatory signals from enhancer DNA-bound transcription factors directly to

1968-514: A key repair and transcription protein that unwinds DNA helices have premature onset of aging-related diseases and consequent shortening of lifespan. However, not every DNA repair deficiency creates exactly the predicted effects; mice deficient in the NER pathway exhibited shortened life span without correspondingly higher rates of mutation. The maximum life spans of mice , naked mole-rats and humans are respectively ~3, ~30 and ~129 years. Of these,

2091-606: A large survival advantage early in life will be selected for even if they carry a corresponding disadvantage late in life. Defects in the NER mechanism are responsible for several genetic disorders, including: Transcription (biology) Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA. Some segments of DNA are transcribed into RNA molecules that can encode proteins , called messenger RNA (mRNA). Other segments of DNA are transcribed into RNA molecules called non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Both DNA and RNA are nucleic acids , which use base pairs of nucleotides as

2214-639: A last resort. Once the DNA damage is repaired or bypassed using polymerases or through recombination, the amount of single-stranded DNA in cells is decreased, lowering the amounts of RecA filaments decreases cleavage activity of LexA homodimer, which then binds to the SOS boxes near promoters and restores normal gene expression. Eukaryotic cells exposed to DNA damaging agents also activate important defensive pathways by inducing multiple proteins involved in DNA repair, cell cycle checkpoint control, protein trafficking and degradation. Such genome wide transcriptional response

2337-473: A methyl-CpG-binding domain as well as a transcription repression domain. They bind to methylated DNA and guide or direct protein complexes with chromatin remodeling and/or histone modifying activity to methylated CpG islands. MBD proteins generally repress local chromatin such as by catalyzing the introduction of repressive histone marks, or creating an overall repressive chromatin environment through nucleosome remodeling and chromatin reorganization. As noted in

2460-505: A mutation. Three mechanisms exist to repair double-strand breaks (DSBs): non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ), and homologous recombination (HR): In an in vitro system, MMEJ occurred in mammalian cells at the levels of 10–20% of HR when both HR and NHEJ mechanisms were also available. The extremophile Deinococcus radiodurans has a remarkable ability to survive DNA damage from ionizing radiation and other sources. At least two copies of

2583-418: A necessary step in the synthesis of viral proteins needed for viral replication . This process is catalyzed by a viral RNA dependent RNA polymerase . A DNA transcription unit encoding for a protein may contain both a coding sequence , which will be translated into the protein, and regulatory sequences , which direct and regulate the synthesis of that protein. The regulatory sequence before ( upstream from)

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2706-445: A population of cells composing a tissue with replicating cells, mutant cells will tend to be lost. However, infrequent mutations that provide a survival advantage will tend to clonally expand at the expense of neighboring cells in the tissue. This advantage to the cell is disadvantageous to the whole organism because such mutant cells can give rise to cancer. Thus, DNA damage in frequently dividing cells, because it gives rise to mutations,

2829-421: A potential drug target for bacterial infections. Small molecules that interfere with RecA function have been identified. Since many antibiotics lead to DNA damage, and all bacteria rely on RecA to fix this damage, inhibitors of RecA could be used to enhance the toxicity of antibiotics. Inhibitors of RecA may also delay or prevent the appearance of bacterial drug resistance. DNA repair DNA repair

2952-542: A promoter. (RNA polymerase is called a holoenzyme when sigma subunit is attached to the core enzyme which is consist of 2 α subunits, 1 β subunit, 1 β' subunit only). Unlike eukaryotes, the initiating nucleotide of nascent bacterial mRNA is not capped with a modified guanine nucleotide. The initiating nucleotide of bacterial transcripts bears a 5′ triphosphate (5′-PPP), which can be used for genome-wide mapping of transcription initiation sites. In archaea and eukaryotes , RNA polymerase contains subunits homologous to each of

3075-415: A second, with half maximum accumulation within 1.6 seconds after the damage occurs. PARP1 synthesizes polymeric adenosine diphosphate ribose (poly (ADP-ribose) or PAR) chains on itself. Next the chromatin remodeler ALC1 quickly attaches to the product of PARP1 action, a poly-ADP ribose chain, and ALC1 completes arrival at the DNA damage within 10 seconds of the occurrence of the damage. About half of

3198-625: A single copy of a gene. The characteristic elongation rates in prokaryotes and eukaryotes are about 10–100 nts/sec. In eukaryotes, however, nucleosomes act as major barriers to transcribing polymerases during transcription elongation. In these organisms, the pausing induced by nucleosomes can be regulated by transcription elongation factors such as TFIIS. Elongation also involves a proofreading mechanism that can replace incorrectly incorporated bases. In eukaryotes, this may correspond with short pauses during transcription that allow appropriate RNA editing factors to bind. These pauses may be intrinsic to

3321-408: A specialized polymerase is needed to extend it; Pol ζ . Pol ζ is unique in that it can extend terminal mismatches, whereas more processive polymerases cannot. So when a lesion is encountered, the replication fork will stall, PCNA will switch from a processive polymerase to a TLS polymerase such as Pol ι to fix the lesion, then PCNA may switch to Pol ζ to extend the mismatch, and last PCNA will switch to

3444-464: A study of brain cortical neurons, 24,937 loops were found, bringing enhancers to their target promoters. Multiple enhancers, each often at tens or hundred of thousands of nucleotides distant from their target genes, loop to their target gene promoters and can coordinate with each other to control transcription of their common target gene. The schematic illustration in this section shows an enhancer looping around to come into close physical proximity with

3567-447: A variety of repair strategies have evolved to restore lost information. If possible, cells use the unmodified complementary strand of the DNA or the sister chromatid as a template to recover the original information. Without access to a template, cells use an error-prone recovery mechanism known as translesion synthesis as a last resort. Damage to DNA alters the spatial configuration of the helix, and such alterations can be detected by

3690-401: A variety of ways: Some viruses (such as HIV , the cause of AIDS ), have the ability to transcribe RNA into DNA. HIV has an RNA genome that is reverse transcribed into DNA. The resulting DNA can be merged with the DNA genome of the host cell. The main enzyme responsible for synthesis of DNA from an RNA template is called reverse transcriptase . In the case of HIV, reverse transcriptase

3813-576: Is p53 , as it is required for inducing apoptosis following DNA damage. The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 is induced by both p53-dependent and p53-independent mechanisms and can arrest the cell cycle at the G1/S and G2/M checkpoints by deactivating cyclin / cyclin-dependent kinase complexes. The SOS response is the changes in gene expression in Escherichia coli and other bacteria in response to extensive DNA damage. The prokaryotic SOS system

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3936-415: Is rifampicin , which inhibits bacterial transcription of DNA into mRNA by inhibiting DNA-dependent RNA polymerase by binding its beta-subunit, while 8-hydroxyquinoline is an antifungal transcription inhibitor. The effects of histone methylation may also work to inhibit the action of transcription. Potent, bioactive natural products like triptolide that inhibit mammalian transcription via inhibition of

4059-423: Is a collection of processes by which a cell identifies and corrects damage to the DNA molecules that encode its genome . In human cells, both normal metabolic activities and environmental factors such as radiation can cause DNA damage, resulting in tens of thousands of individual molecular lesions per cell per day. Many of these lesions cause structural damage to the DNA molecule and can alter or eliminate

4182-611: Is a pair of large protein kinases belonging to the first group of PI3K-like protein kinases-the ATM ( Ataxia telangiectasia mutated ) and ATR (Ataxia- and Rad-related) kinases, whose sequence and functions have been well conserved in evolution. All DNA damage response requires either ATM or ATR because they have the ability to bind to the chromosomes at the site of DNA damage, together with accessory proteins that are platforms on which DNA damage response components and DNA repair complexes can be assembled. An important downstream target of ATM and ATR

4305-409: Is a particular transcription factor that is important for regulation of methylation of CpG islands. An EGR1 transcription factor binding site is frequently located in enhancer or promoter sequences. There are about 12,000 binding sites for EGR1 in the mammalian genome and about half of EGR1 binding sites are located in promoters and half in enhancers. The binding of EGR1 to its target DNA binding site

4428-419: Is a prominent cause of cancer. In contrast, DNA damage in infrequently-dividing cells is likely a prominent cause of aging. Cells cannot function if DNA damage corrupts the integrity and accessibility of essential information in the genome (but cells remain superficially functional when non-essential genes are missing or damaged). Depending on the type of damage inflicted on the DNA's double helical structure,

4551-414: Is a special problem in non-dividing or slowly-dividing cells, where unrepaired damage will tend to accumulate over time. On the other hand, in rapidly dividing cells, unrepaired DNA damage that does not kill the cell by blocking replication will tend to cause replication errors and thus mutation. The great majority of mutations that are not neutral in their effect are deleterious to a cell's survival. Thus, in

4674-420: Is about two million base pairs at the site of a DNA double-strand break. γH2AX does not, itself, cause chromatin decondensation, but within 30 seconds of irradiation, RNF8 protein can be detected in association with γH2AX. RNF8 mediates extensive chromatin decondensation, through its subsequent interaction with CHD4 , a component of the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase complex NuRD . DDB2 occurs in

4797-494: Is also altered in response to signals. The three mammalian DNA methyltransferasess (DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B) catalyze the addition of methyl groups to cytosines in DNA. While DNMT1 is a maintenance methyltransferase, DNMT3A and DNMT3B can carry out new methylations. There are also two splice protein isoforms produced from the DNMT3A gene: DNA methyltransferase proteins DNMT3A1 and DNMT3A2. The splice isoform DNMT3A2 behaves like

4920-414: Is always highly conserved and one of the strongest short signals in the genome. The high information content of SOS boxes permits differential binding of LexA to different promoters and allows for timing of the SOS response. The lesion repair genes are induced at the beginning of SOS response. The error-prone translesion polymerases, for example, UmuCD'2 (also called DNA polymerase V), are induced later on as

5043-446: Is certain methylation of the bases cytosine and adenine. When only one of the two strands of a double helix has a defect, the other strand can be used as a template to guide the correction of the damaged strand. In order to repair damage to one of the two paired molecules of DNA, there exist a number of excision repair mechanisms that remove the damaged nucleotide and replace it with an undamaged nucleotide complementary to that found in

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5166-484: Is controlled by two master kinases , ATM and ATR . ATM responds to DNA double-strand breaks and disruptions in chromatin structure, whereas ATR primarily responds to stalled replication forks . These kinases phosphorylate downstream targets in a signal transduction cascade, eventually leading to cell cycle arrest. A class of checkpoint mediator proteins including BRCA1 , MDC1 , and 53BP1 has also been identified. These proteins seem to be required for transmitting

5289-557: Is damaged. This is followed by phosphorylation of the cell cycle checkpoint protein Chk1 , initiating its function, about 10 minutes after DNA is damaged. After DNA damage, cell cycle checkpoints are activated. Checkpoint activation pauses the cell cycle and gives the cell time to repair the damage before continuing to divide. DNA damage checkpoints occur at the G1 / S and G2 / M boundaries. An intra- S checkpoint also exists. Checkpoint activation

5412-603: Is followed by 3' guanine or CpG sites ). 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) is a methylated form of the DNA base cytosine (see Figure). 5-mC is an epigenetic marker found predominantly within CpG sites. About 28 million CpG dinucleotides occur in the human genome. In most tissues of mammals, on average, 70% to 80% of CpG cytosines are methylated (forming 5-methylCpG or 5-mCpG). However, unmethylated cytosines within 5'cytosine-guanine 3' sequences often occur in groups, called CpG islands , at active promoters. About 60% of promoter sequences have

5535-475: Is insensitive to cytosine methylation in the DNA. While only small amounts of EGR1 transcription factor protein are detectable in cells that are un-stimulated, translation of the EGR1 gene into protein at one hour after stimulation is drastically elevated. Production of EGR1 transcription factor proteins, in various types of cells, can be stimulated by growth factors, neurotransmitters, hormones, stress and injury. In

5658-481: Is known to add the first adenine across the T^T photodimer using Watson-Crick base pairing and the second adenine will be added in its syn conformation using Hoogsteen base pairing . From a cellular perspective, risking the introduction of point mutations during translesion synthesis may be preferable to resorting to more drastic mechanisms of DNA repair, which may cause gross chromosomal aberrations or cell death. In short,

5781-452: Is located inside mitochondria organelles , exists in multiple copies, and is also tightly associated with a number of proteins to form a complex known as the nucleoid. Inside mitochondria, reactive oxygen species (ROS), or free radicals , byproducts of the constant production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) via oxidative phosphorylation , create a highly oxidative environment that is known to damage mtDNA. A critical enzyme in counteracting

5904-599: Is not yet known. One strand of the DNA, the template strand (or noncoding strand), is used as a template for RNA synthesis. As transcription proceeds, RNA polymerase traverses the template strand and uses base pairing complementarity with the DNA template to create an RNA copy (which elongates during the traversal). Although RNA polymerase traverses the template strand from 3' → 5', the coding (non-template) strand and newly formed RNA can also be used as reference points, so transcription can be described as occurring 5' → 3'. This produces an RNA molecule from 5' → 3', an exact copy of

6027-440: Is obligately dependent on energy absorbed from blue/UV light (300–500 nm wavelength ) to promote catalysis. Photolyase, an old enzyme present in bacteria , fungi , and most animals no longer functions in humans, who instead use nucleotide excision repair to repair damage from UV irradiation. Another type of damage, methylation of guanine bases, is directly reversed by the enzyme methyl guanine methyl transferase (MGMT),

6150-410: Is regulated by many cis-regulatory elements , including core promoter and promoter-proximal elements that are located near the transcription start sites of genes. Core promoters combined with general transcription factors are sufficient to direct transcription initiation, but generally have low basal activity. Other important cis-regulatory modules are localized in DNA regions that are distant from

6273-482: Is regulated by two key proteins: LexA and RecA . The LexA homodimer is a transcriptional repressor that binds to operator sequences commonly referred to as SOS boxes. In Escherichia coli it is known that LexA regulates transcription of approximately 48 genes including the lexA and recA genes. The SOS response is known to be widespread in the Bacteria domain, but it is mostly absent in some bacterial phyla, like

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6396-510: Is responsible for synthesizing a complementary DNA strand (cDNA) to the viral RNA genome. The enzyme ribonuclease H then digests the RNA strand, and reverse transcriptase synthesises a complementary strand of DNA to form a double helix DNA structure (cDNA). The cDNA is integrated into the host cell's genome by the enzyme integrase , which causes the host cell to generate viral proteins that reassemble into new viral particles. In HIV, subsequent to this,

6519-428: Is synthesized, at which point promoter escape occurs and a transcription elongation complex is formed. Mechanistically, promoter escape occurs through DNA scrunching , providing the energy needed to break interactions between RNA polymerase holoenzyme and the promoter. In bacteria, it was historically thought that the sigma factor is definitely released after promoter clearance occurs. This theory had been known as

6642-473: Is very complex and tightly regulated, thus allowing coordinated global response to damage. Exposure of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to DNA damaging agents results in overlapping but distinct transcriptional profiles. Similarities to environmental shock response indicates that a general global stress response pathway exist at the level of transcriptional activation. In contrast, different human cell types respond to damage differently indicating an absence of

6765-458: The Mfd ATPase can remove a RNA polymerase stalled at a lesion by prying open its clamp. It also recruits nucleotide excision repair machinery to repair the lesion. Mfd is proposed to also resolve conflicts between DNA replication and transcription. In eukayrotes, ATPase TTF2 helps to suppress the action of RNAP I and II during mitosis , preventing errors in chromosomal segregation. In archaea,

6888-631: The Spirochetes . The most common cellular signals activating the SOS response are regions of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), arising from stalled replication forks or double-strand breaks, which are processed by DNA helicase to separate the two DNA strands. In the initiation step, RecA protein binds to ssDNA in an ATP hydrolysis driven reaction creating RecA–ssDNA filaments. RecA–ssDNA filaments activate LexA auto protease activity, which ultimately leads to cleavage of LexA dimer and subsequent LexA degradation. The loss of LexA repressor induces transcription of

7011-462: The cell cycle and is condensed into aggregate structures known as chromosomes during cell division . In either state the DNA is highly compacted and wound up around bead-like proteins called histones . Whenever a cell needs to express the genetic information encoded in its n-DNA the required chromosomal region is unraveled, genes located therein are expressed, and then the region is condensed back to its resting conformation. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)

7134-461: The gene dosage of the gene SIR-2, which regulates DNA packaging in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans , can significantly extend lifespan. The mammalian homolog of SIR-2 is known to induce downstream DNA repair factors involved in NHEJ, an activity that is especially promoted under conditions of caloric restriction. Caloric restriction has been closely linked to the rate of base excision repair in

7257-498: The obligate release model. However, later data showed that upon and following promoter clearance, the sigma factor is released according to a stochastic model known as the stochastic release model . In eukaryotes, at an RNA polymerase II-dependent promoter, upon promoter clearance, TFIIH phosphorylates serine 5 on the carboxy terminal domain of RNA polymerase II, leading to the recruitment of capping enzyme (CE). The exact mechanism of how CE induces promoter clearance in eukaryotes

7380-471: The replication forks , are among known stimulation signals for a global response to DNA damage. The global response to damage is an act directed toward the cells' own preservation and triggers multiple pathways of macromolecular repair, lesion bypass, tolerance, or apoptosis . The common features of global response are induction of multiple genes , cell cycle arrest, and inhibition of cell division . The packaging of eukaryotic DNA into chromatin presents

7503-425: The toxicity of these species is superoxide dismutase , which is present in both the mitochondria and cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells. Senescence, an irreversible process in which the cell no longer divides , is a protective response to the shortening of the chromosome ends, called telomeres . The telomeres are long regions of repetitive noncoding DNA that cap chromosomes and undergo partial degradation each time

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7626-650: The two-hit hypothesis . The rate of DNA repair depends on various factors, including the cell type, the age of the cell, and the extracellular environment. A cell that has accumulated a large amount of DNA damage or can no longer effectively repair its DNA may enter one of three possible states: The DNA repair ability of a cell is vital to the integrity of its genome and thus to the normal functionality of that organism. Many genes that were initially shown to influence life span have turned out to be involved in DNA damage repair and protection. The 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

7749-473: The 3' end of the growing mRNA chain. This use of only the 3' → 5' DNA strand eliminates the need for the Okazaki fragments that are seen in DNA replication. This also removes the need for an RNA primer to initiate RNA synthesis, as is the case in DNA replication. The non -template (sense) strand of DNA is called the coding strand , because its sequence is the same as the newly created RNA transcript (except for

7872-601: The BRCA1 promoter (see Low expression of BRCA1 in breast and ovarian cancers ). Active transcription units are clustered in the nucleus, in discrete sites called transcription factories or euchromatin . Such sites can be visualized by allowing engaged polymerases to extend their transcripts in tagged precursors (Br-UTP or Br-U) and immuno-labeling the tagged nascent RNA. Transcription factories can also be localized using fluorescence in situ hybridization or marked by antibodies directed against polymerases. There are ~10,000 factories in

7995-432: The DNA duplex is stretched, which enhances sequence complementarity recognition. The reaction initiates the exchange of strands between two recombining DNA double helices. After the synapsis event, in the heteroduplex region a process called branch migration begins. In branch migration an unpaired region of one of the single strands displaces a paired region of the other single strand, moving the branch point without changing

8118-400: The DNA, such as single- and double-strand breaks, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine residues, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon adducts. DNA damage can be recognized by enzymes, and thus can be correctly repaired if redundant information, such as the undamaged sequence in the complementary DNA strand or in a homologous chromosome, is available for copying. If a cell retains DNA damage, transcription of

8241-502: The DNA. At a site of lesion , PCNA is ubiquitinated, or modified, by the RAD6/ RAD18 proteins to provide a platform for the specialized polymerases to bypass the lesion and resume DNA replication. After translesion synthesis, extension is required. This extension can be carried out by a replicative polymerase if the TLS is error-free, as in the case of Pol η, yet if TLS results in a mismatch,

8364-524: The Eta ATPase is proposed to play a similar role. Genome damage occurs with a high frequency, estimated to range between tens and hundreds of thousands of DNA damages arising in each cell every day. The process of transcription is a major source of DNA damage, due to the formation of single-strand DNA intermediates that are vulnerable to damage. The regulation of transcription by processes using base excision repair and/or topoisomerases to cut and remodel

8487-502: The RNA polymerase II (pol II) enzyme bound to the promoter. Enhancers, when active, are generally transcribed from both strands of DNA with RNA polymerases acting in two different directions, producing two enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) as illustrated in the Figure. An inactive enhancer may be bound by an inactive transcription factor. Phosphorylation of the transcription factor may activate it and that activated transcription factor may then activate

8610-400: The RNA polymerase and one or more general transcription factors binding to a DNA promoter sequence to form an RNA polymerase-promoter closed complex. In the closed complex, the promoter DNA is still fully double-stranded. RNA polymerase, assisted by one or more general transcription factors, then unwinds approximately 14 base pairs of DNA to form an RNA polymerase-promoter open complex. In

8733-654: The RNA polymerase or due to chromatin structure. Double-strand breaks in actively transcribed regions of DNA are repaired by homologous recombination during the S and G2 phases of the cell cycle . Since transcription enhances the accessibility of DNA to exogenous chemicals and internal metabolites that can cause recombinogenic lesions, homologous recombination of a particular DNA sequence may be strongly stimulated by transcription. Bacteria use two different strategies for transcription termination – Rho-independent termination and Rho-dependent termination. In Rho-independent transcription termination , RNA transcription stops when

8856-432: The SOS genes and allows for further signal induction, inhibition of cell division and an increase in levels of proteins responsible for damage processing. In Escherichia coli , SOS boxes are 20-nucleotide long sequences near promoters with palindromic structure and a high degree of sequence conservation. In other classes and phyla, the sequence of SOS boxes varies considerably, with different length and composition, but it

8979-1102: The XPB subunit of the general transcription factor TFIIH has been recently reported as a glucose conjugate for targeting hypoxic cancer cells with increased glucose transporter production. In vertebrates, the majority of gene promoters contain a CpG island with numerous CpG sites . When many of a gene's promoter CpG sites are methylated the gene becomes inhibited (silenced). Colorectal cancers typically have 3 to 6 driver mutations and 33 to 66 hitchhiker or passenger mutations. However, transcriptional inhibition (silencing) may be of more importance than mutation in causing progression to cancer. For example, in colorectal cancers about 600 to 800 genes are transcriptionally inhibited by CpG island methylation (see regulation of transcription in cancer ). Transcriptional repression in cancer can also occur by other epigenetic mechanisms, such as altered production of microRNAs . In breast cancer, transcriptional repression of BRCA1 may occur more frequently by over-produced microRNA-182 than by hypermethylation of

9102-691: The Y Polymerase family), often with larger active sites that can facilitate the insertion of bases opposite damaged nucleotides. The polymerase switching is thought to be mediated by, among other factors, the post-translational modification of the replication processivity factor PCNA . Translesion synthesis polymerases often have low fidelity (high propensity to insert wrong bases) on undamaged templates relative to regular polymerases. However, many are extremely efficient at inserting correct bases opposite specific types of damage. For example, Pol η mediates error-free bypass of lesions induced by UV irradiation , whereas Pol ι introduces mutations at these sites. Pol η

9225-493: The absence of pro-growth cellular signaling . Unregulated cell division can lead to the formation of a tumor (see cancer ), which is potentially lethal to an organism. Therefore, the induction of senescence and apoptosis is considered to be part of a strategy of protection against cancer. It is important to distinguish between DNA damage and mutation, the two major types of error in DNA. DNA damage and mutation are fundamentally different. Damage results in physical abnormalities in

9348-463: The bacterial equivalent of which is called ogt . This is an expensive process because each MGMT molecule can be used only once; that is, the reaction is stoichiometric rather than catalytic . A generalized response to methylating agents in bacteria is known as the adaptive response and confers a level of resistance to alkylating agents upon sustained exposure by upregulation of alkylation repair enzymes. The third type of DNA damage reversed by cells

9471-743: The brain, when neurons are activated, EGR1 proteins are up-regulated and they bind to (recruit) the pre-existing TET1 enzymes that are produced in high amounts in neurons. TET enzymes can catalyse demethylation of 5-methylcytosine. When EGR1 transcription factors bring TET1 enzymes to EGR1 binding sites in promoters, the TET enzymes can demethylate the methylated CpG islands at those promoters. Upon demethylation, these promoters can then initiate transcription of their target genes. Hundreds of genes in neurons are differentially expressed after neuron activation through EGR1 recruitment of TET1 to methylated regulatory sequences in their promoters. The methylation of promoters

9594-429: The capacity of the cell to repair it, the accumulation of errors can overwhelm the cell and result in early senescence, apoptosis, or cancer. Inherited diseases associated with faulty DNA repair functioning result in premature aging, increased sensitivity to carcinogens and correspondingly increased cancer risk (see below ). On the other hand, organisms with enhanced DNA repair systems, such as Deinococcus radiodurans ,

9717-492: The cell replicates. In a population of cells, mutant cells will increase or decrease in frequency according to the effects of the mutation on the ability of the cell to survive and reproduce. Although distinctly different from each other, DNA damage and mutation are related because DNA damage often causes errors of DNA synthesis during replication or repair; these errors are a major source of mutation. Given these properties of DNA damage and mutation, it can be seen that DNA damage

9840-519: The cell's ability to transcribe the gene that the affected DNA encodes. Other lesions induce potentially harmful mutations in the cell's genome, which affect the survival of its daughter cells after it undergoes mitosis . As a consequence, the DNA repair process is constantly active as it responds to damage in the DNA structure. When normal repair processes fail, and when cellular apoptosis does not occur, irreparable DNA damage may occur. This can eventually lead to malignant tumors, or cancer as per

9963-404: The cell. Once damage is localized, specific DNA repair molecules bind at or near the site of damage, inducing other molecules to bind and form a complex that enables the actual repair to take place. Cells are known to eliminate three types of damage to their DNA by chemically reversing it. These mechanisms do not require a template, since the types of damage they counteract can occur in only one of

10086-687: The checkpoint activation signal to downstream proteins. DNA damage checkpoint is a signal transduction pathway that blocks cell cycle progression in G1, G2 and metaphase and slows down the rate of S phase progression when DNA is damaged. It leads to a pause in cell cycle allowing the cell time to repair the damage before continuing to divide. Checkpoint Proteins can be separated into four groups: phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-like protein kinase , proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-like group, two serine/threonine(S/T) kinases and their adaptors. Central to all DNA damage induced checkpoints responses

10209-441: The chromatin at the site of UV damage to DNA. This relaxation allows other proteins in the nucleotide excision repair pathway to enter the chromatin and repair UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer damages. After rapid chromatin remodeling , cell cycle checkpoints are activated to allow DNA repair to occur before the cell cycle progresses. First, two kinases , ATM and ATR are activated within 5 or 6 minutes after DNA

10332-407: The coding sequence is called the five prime untranslated regions (5'UTR); the sequence after ( downstream from) the coding sequence is called the three prime untranslated regions (3'UTR). As opposed to DNA replication , transcription results in an RNA complement that includes the nucleotide uracil (U) in all instances where thymine (T) would have occurred in a DNA complement. Only one of

10455-427: The coding strand (except that thymines are replaced with uracils , and the nucleotides are composed of a ribose (5-carbon) sugar whereas DNA has deoxyribose (one fewer oxygen atom) in its sugar-phosphate backbone). mRNA transcription can involve multiple RNA polymerases on a single DNA template and multiple rounds of transcription (amplification of particular mRNA), so many mRNA molecules can be rapidly produced from

10578-560: The course of changing the DNA's state of supercoiling , which is especially common in regions near an open replication fork. Such breaks are not considered DNA damage because they are a natural intermediate in the topoisomerase biochemical mechanism and are immediately repaired by the enzymes that created them. Another type of DNA double-strand breaks originates from the DNA heat-sensitive or heat-labile sites. These DNA sites are not initial DSBs. However, they convert to DSB after treating with elevated temperature. Ionizing irradiation can induces

10701-421: The donor DNA into the recipient chromosome by homologous recombination , a process mediated by the RecA protein. In some bacteria, the recA gene is induced in response to the bacterium becoming competent , the physiological state required for transformation. In Bacillus subtilis the length of the transferred DNA can be as great as a third and up to the size of the whole chromosome . RecA has been proposed as

10824-487: The earliest steps, the stress-activated protein kinase, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) , phosphorylates SIRT6 on serine 10 in response to double-strand breaks or other DNA damage. This post-translational modification facilitates the mobilization of SIRT6 to DNA damage sites, and is required for efficient recruitment of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) to DNA break sites and for efficient repair of DSBs. PARP1 protein starts to appear at DNA damage sites in less than

10947-417: The enhancer to which it is bound (see small red star representing phosphorylation of transcription factor bound to enhancer in the illustration). An activated enhancer begins transcription of its RNA before activating transcription of messenger RNA from its target gene. Transcription regulation at about 60% of promoters is also controlled by methylation of cytosines within CpG dinucleotides (where 5' cytosine

11070-451: The factor. A molecule that allows the genetic material to be realized as a protein was first hypothesized by François Jacob and Jacques Monod . Severo Ochoa won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1959 for developing a process for synthesizing RNA in vitro with polynucleotide phosphorylase , which was useful for cracking the genetic code . RNA synthesis by RNA polymerase

11193-580: The five RNA polymerase subunits in bacteria and also contains additional subunits. In archaea and eukaryotes, the functions of the bacterial general transcription factor sigma are performed by multiple general transcription factors that work together. In archaea, there are three general transcription factors: TBP , TFB , and TFE . In eukaryotes, in RNA polymerase II -dependent transcription, there are six general transcription factors: TFIIA , TFIIB (an ortholog of archaeal TFB), TFIID (a multisubunit factor in which

11316-412: The four bases. Such direct reversal mechanisms are specific to the type of damage incurred and do not involve breakage of the phosphodiester backbone. The formation of pyrimidine dimers upon irradiation with UV light results in an abnormal covalent bond between adjacent pyrimidine bases. The photoreactivation process directly reverses this damage by the action of the enzyme photolyase , whose activation

11439-629: The genome also increases the vulnerability of DNA to damage. RNA polymerase plays a very crucial role in all steps including post-transcriptional changes in RNA. As shown in the image in the right it is evident that the CTD (C Terminal Domain) is a tail that changes its shape; this tail will be used as a carrier of splicing, capping and polyadenylation , as shown in the image on the left. Transcription inhibitors can be used as antibiotics against, for example, pathogenic bacteria ( antibacterials ) and fungi ( antifungals ). An example of such an antibacterial

11562-424: The genome that are major gene-regulatory elements. Enhancers control cell-type-specific gene transcription programs, most often by looping through long distances to come in physical proximity with the promoters of their target genes. While there are hundreds of thousands of enhancer DNA regions, for a particular type of tissue only specific enhancers are brought into proximity with the promoters that they regulate. In

11685-432: The genome, with random DNA breaks, can form DNA fragments through annealing . Partially overlapping fragments are then used for synthesis of homologous regions through a moving D-loop that can continue extension until complementary partner strands are found. In the final step, there is crossover by means of RecA -dependent homologous recombination . Topoisomerases introduce both single- and double-strand breaks in

11808-550: The incorporation of wrong bases opposite damaged ones. Daughter cells that inherit these wrong bases carry mutations from which the original DNA sequence is unrecoverable (except in the rare case of a back mutation , for example, through gene conversion ). There are several types of damage to DNA due to endogenous cellular processes: Damage caused by exogenous agents comes in many forms. Some examples are: UV damage, alkylation/methylation, X-ray damage and oxidative damage are examples of induced damage. Spontaneous damage can include

11931-581: The key subunit, TBP , is an ortholog of archaeal TBP), TFIIE (an ortholog of archaeal TFE), TFIIF , and TFIIH . The TFIID is the first component to bind to DNA due to binding of TBP, while TFIIH is the last component to be recruited. In archaea and eukaryotes, the RNA polymerase-promoter closed complex is usually referred to as the " preinitiation complex ". Transcription initiation is regulated by additional proteins, known as activators and repressors , and, in some cases, associated coactivators or corepressors , which modulate formation and function of

12054-455: The loss of a base, deamination, sugar ring puckering and tautomeric shift. Constitutive (spontaneous) DNA damage caused by endogenous oxidants can be detected as a low level of histone H2AX phosphorylation in untreated cells. In human cells, and eukaryotic cells in general, DNA is found in two cellular locations – inside the nucleus and inside the mitochondria . Nuclear DNA (n-DNA) exists as chromatin during non-replicative stages of

12177-540: The mRNA, thus releasing the newly synthesized mRNA from the elongation complex. Transcription termination in eukaryotes is less well understood than in bacteria, but involves cleavage of the new transcript followed by template-independent addition of adenines at its new 3' end, in a process called polyadenylation . Beyond termination by a terminator sequences (which is a part of a gene ), transcription may also need to be terminated when it encounters conditions such as DNA damage or an active replication fork . In bacteria,

12300-744: The maximum chromatin relaxation, presumably due to action of ALC1, occurs by 10 seconds. This then allows recruitment of the DNA repair enzyme MRE11 , to initiate DNA repair, within 13 seconds. γH2AX, the phosphorylated form of H2AX is also involved in the early steps leading to chromatin decondensation after DNA double-strand breaks. The histone variant H2AX constitutes about 10% of the H2A histones in human chromatin. γH2AX (H2AX phosphorylated on serine 139) can be detected as soon as 20 seconds after irradiation of cells (with DNA double-strand break formation), and half maximum accumulation of γH2AX occurs in one minute. The extent of chromatin with phosphorylated γH2AX

12423-420: The most radiation-resistant known organism, exhibit remarkable resistance to the double-strand break-inducing effects of radioactivity , likely due to enhanced efficiency of DNA repair and especially NHEJ. A number of individual genes have been identified as influencing variations in life span within a population of organisms. The effects of these genes is strongly dependent on the environment, in particular, on

12546-463: The newly synthesized RNA molecule forms a G-C-rich hairpin loop followed by a run of Us. When the hairpin forms, the mechanical stress breaks the weak rU-dA bonds, now filling the DNA–RNA hybrid. This pulls the poly-U transcript out of the active site of the RNA polymerase, terminating transcription. In Rho-dependent termination, Rho , a protein factor, destabilizes the interaction between the template and

12669-460: The nuclear DNA of rodents, although similar effects have not been observed in mitochondrial DNA. The C. elegans gene AGE-1, an upstream effector of DNA repair pathways, confers dramatically extended life span under free-feeding conditions but leads to a decrease in reproductive fitness under conditions of caloric restriction. This observation supports the pleiotropy theory of the biological origins of aging , which suggests that genes conferring

12792-413: The nucleoplasm of a HeLa cell , among which are ~8,000 polymerase II factories and ~2,000 polymerase III factories. Each polymerase II factory contains ~8 polymerases. As most active transcription units are associated with only one polymerase, each factory usually contains ~8 different transcription units. These units might be associated through promoters and/or enhancers, with loops forming a "cloud" around

12915-413: The open complex, the promoter DNA is partly unwound and single-stranded. The exposed, single-stranded DNA is referred to as the "transcription bubble". RNA polymerase, assisted by one or more general transcription factors, then selects a transcription start site in the transcription bubble, binds to an initiating NTP and an extending NTP (or a short RNA primer and an extending NTP) complementary to

13038-756: The organism's diet. Caloric restriction reproducibly results in extended lifespan in a variety of organisms, likely via nutrient sensing pathways and decreased metabolic rate . The molecular mechanisms by which such restriction results in lengthened lifespan are as yet unclear (see for some discussion); however, the behavior of many genes known to be involved in DNA repair is altered under conditions of caloric restriction. Several agents reported to have anti-aging properties have been shown to attenuate constitutive level of mTOR signaling, an evidence of reduction of metabolic activity , and concurrently to reduce constitutive level of DNA damage induced by endogenously generated reactive oxygen species. For example, increasing

13161-399: The period after DNA replication when sister loci remain close. RecA can also mediate homology pairing, homologous recombination and DNA break repair between distant sister loci that had segregated to opposite halves of the E. coli cell. Natural bacterial transformation involves the transfer of DNA from one bacterium to another (ordinarily of the same species ) and the integration of

13284-649: The previous section, transcription factors are proteins that bind to specific DNA sequences in order to regulate the expression of a gene. The binding sequence for a transcription factor in DNA is usually about 10 or 11 nucleotides long. As summarized in 2009, Vaquerizas et al. indicated there are approximately 1,400 different transcription factors encoded in the human genome by genes that constitute about 6% of all human protein encoding genes. About 94% of transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) that are associated with signal-responsive genes occur in enhancers while only about 6% of such TFBSs occur in promoters. EGR1 protein

13407-496: The process involves specialized polymerases either bypassing or repairing lesions at locations of stalled DNA replication. For example, Human DNA polymerase eta can bypass complex DNA lesions like guanine-thymine intra-strand crosslink, G[8,5-Me]T, although it can cause targeted and semi-targeted mutations. Paromita Raychaudhury and Ashis Basu studied the toxicity and mutagenesis of the same lesion in Escherichia coli by replicating

13530-412: The processive polymerase to continue replication. Cells exposed to ionizing radiation , ultraviolet light or chemicals are prone to acquire multiple sites of bulky DNA lesions and double-strand breaks. Moreover, DNA damaging agents can damage other biomolecules such as proteins , carbohydrates , lipids , and RNA . The accumulation of damage, to be specific, double-strand breaks or adducts stalling

13653-475: The product of a classical immediate-early gene and, for instance, it is robustly and transiently produced after neuronal activation. Where the DNA methyltransferase isoform DNMT3A2 binds and adds methyl groups to cytosines appears to be determined by histone post translational modifications. On the other hand, neural activation causes degradation of DNMT3A1 accompanied by reduced methylation of at least one evaluated targeted promoter. Transcription begins with

13776-418: The promoter of a target gene. The loop is stabilized by a dimer of a connector protein (e.g. dimer of CTCF or YY1 ), with one member of the dimer anchored to its binding motif on the enhancer and the other member anchored to its binding motif on the promoter (represented by the red zigzags in the illustration). Several cell function specific transcription factors (there are about 1,600 transcription factors in

13899-399: The shortest lived species, mouse, expresses DNA repair genes, including core genes in several DNA repair pathways, at a lower level than do humans and naked mole rats. Furthermore several DNA repair pathways in humans and naked mole-rats are up-regulated compared to mouse. These observations suggest that elevated DNA repair facilitates greater longevity . If the rate of DNA damage exceeds

14022-452: The standard double helix. Unlike proteins and RNA , DNA usually lacks tertiary structure and therefore damage or disturbance does not occur at that level. DNA is, however, supercoiled and wound around "packaging" proteins called histones (in eukaryotes), and both superstructures are vulnerable to the effects of DNA damage. DNA damage can be subdivided into two main types: The replication of damaged DNA before cell division can lead to

14145-465: The substitution of uracil for thymine). This is the strand that is used by convention when presenting a DNA sequence. Transcription has some proofreading mechanisms, but they are fewer and less effective than the controls for copying DNA. As a result, transcription has a lower copying fidelity than DNA replication. Transcription is divided into initiation , promoter escape , elongation, and termination . Setting up for transcription in mammals

14268-678: The total number of base pairs. Spontaneous branch migration can occur, however, as it generally proceeds equally in both directions it is unlikely to complete recombination efficiently. The RecA protein catalyzes unidirectional branch migration and by doing so makes it possible to complete recombination, producing a region of heteroduplex DNA that is thousands of base pairs long. Since it is a DNA-dependent ATPase , RecA contains an additional site for binding and hydrolyzing ATP . RecA associates more tightly with DNA when it has ATP bound than when it has ADP bound. In Escherichia coli , homologous recombination events mediated by RecA can occur during

14391-431: The transcription initiation complex. After the first bond is synthesized, the RNA polymerase must escape the promoter. During this time there is a tendency to release the RNA transcript and produce truncated transcripts. This is called abortive initiation , and is common for both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Abortive initiation continues to occur until an RNA product of a threshold length of approximately 10 nucleotides

14514-456: The transcription start site sequence, and catalyzes bond formation to yield an initial RNA product. In bacteria , RNA polymerase holoenzyme consists of five subunits: 2 α subunits, 1 β subunit, 1 β' subunit, and 1 ω subunit. In bacteria, there is one general RNA transcription factor known as a sigma factor . RNA polymerase core enzyme binds to the bacterial general transcription (sigma) factor to form RNA polymerase holoenzyme and then binds to

14637-513: The transcription start sites. These include enhancers , silencers , insulators and tethering elements. Among this constellation of elements, enhancers and their associated transcription factors have a leading role in the initiation of gene transcription. An enhancer localized in a DNA region distant from the promoter of a gene can have a very large effect on gene transcription, with some genes undergoing up to 100-fold increased transcription due to an activated enhancer. Enhancers are regions of

14760-416: The two DNA strands serves as a template for transcription. The antisense strand of DNA is read by RNA polymerase from the 3' end to the 5' end during transcription (3' → 5'). The complementary RNA is created in the opposite direction, in the 5' → 3' direction, matching the sequence of the sense strand except switching uracil for thymine. This directionality is because RNA polymerase can only add nucleotides to

14883-498: The undamaged DNA strand. Double-strand breaks, in which both strands in the double helix are severed, are particularly hazardous to the cell because they can lead to genome rearrangements . In fact, when a double-strand break is accompanied by a cross-linkage joining the two strands at the same point, neither strand can be used as a template for the repair mechanisms, so that the cell will not be able to complete mitosis when it next divides, and will either die or, in rare cases, undergo

15006-490: Was awarded to Tomas Lindahl , Paul Modrich , and Aziz Sancar for their work on the molecular mechanisms of DNA repair processes. DNA damage, due to environmental factors and normal metabolic processes inside the cell, occurs at a rate of 10,000 to 1,000,000 molecular lesions per cell per day. While this constitutes at most only 0.0003125% of the human genome's approximately 3.2 billion bases, unrepaired lesions in critical genes (such as tumor suppressor genes ) can impede

15129-402: Was established in vitro by several laboratories by 1965; however, the RNA synthesized by these enzymes had properties that suggested the existence of an additional factor needed to terminate transcription correctly. Roger D. Kornberg won the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription ". Transcription can be measured and detected in

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