Like a bodyguard turned traitor, a protein whose regular job is to help repair severed DNA molecules will, in some cases, join forces with another protein to do the opposite and chop the DNA to bits, according to new research at the University of Minnesota. The chopping up of a cell’s DNA occurs in response to damage, for example, from ultraviolet light, and appears to be a means of killing the cell before it can become dysfunctional or cancerous. The proteins are produced by two cellular processes, both of which must be set in motion before the proteins can gang up on the DNA molecule and seal the cell’s fate. The researchers describe their discovery in the July 7 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
