Cellular processes, such as transcription and DNA repair, require modification and manipulation of chromosomally associated proteins by a diverse set of chromatin remodeling complexes. The mechanisms by which cells regulate chromatin remodeling are not completely understood. During the response elicited by DNA damage, the addition of poly(ADP-ribose) to chromatin is associated with chromatin decondensation, which is thought to promote efficient DNA repair. Ahel et al. have identified a chromatin remodeling enzyme as a DNA damage-response protein, which binds poly(ADP-ribose) and is recruited to sites of DNA damage.
D. Ahel, Z. Hořejší, N. Wiechens, S. E. Polo, E. Garcia-Wilson, I. Ahel, H. Flynn, M. Skehel, S. C. West, S. P. Jackson, T. Owen-Hughes, S. J. Boulton, Poly(ADP-ribose)–dependent regulation of DNA repair by the chromatin remodeling enzyme ALC1. Science 325, 1240–1243 (2009). [Abstract] [Full Text]
