Mismatch repair

Mismatch repair is a system for recognizing and repairing erroneous insertion, deletion, and mis-incorporation of bases that can arise during DNA replication and recombination, as well as repairing some forms of DNA damage. Mismatch repair is strand-specific. During DNA synthesis the newly synthesised (daughter) strand will commonly include errors.

Mechanism

Mismatch repair is a highly conserved process from bacteria to humans. The process is known to be initiated by the mismatch repair protein complex that recognizes the mismatched base. In Escherichia coli, this complex is known as MutS and MutL, and in humans, it is known as MSH and MLH/PMS. Once the mismatch is recognized, a series of events is initiated that leads to the removal of the error-containing DNA segment, followed by resynthesis of the correct DNA sequence.

Role in disease

Defects in mismatch repair genes can lead to microsatellite instability, which is a hallmark of Lynch syndrome, also known as hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). This condition predisposes individuals to various types of cancer. In addition, sporadic cases of colorectal cancer often show a high frequency of MSI, suggesting that defects in the mismatch repair system are a common cause of colorectal cancer.

See also

• Base excision repair
• Nucleotide excision repair
• DNA repair

References

Mismatch repair Resources
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