Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2017

Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V40

The Role of ALKBH3 in DNA Double Strand Break Repair

Höfundar / Authors: Stefán Hermanowicz, Kritika Kirty, Þorkell Guðjónsson, Stefán Sigurðsson

Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: University of Iceland Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedical Center

Kynnir / Presenter: Stefán Hermanowicz

DNA repair is crucial to maintaining the health and integrity of cells. Damage that is allowed to persist within the DNA may aid in the formation of diseases such as cancer. It is therefore crucial that proteins involved in DNA repair are functional. ALKBH3 is a protein involved in the repair and removal of alkylation damage and improperly located methyl groups on DNA and RNA. Recently we published that ALKBH3 was being epigenetically silenced in a fraction of breast tumors within a sample of Icelandic breast cancer patients. In order to explore any functional consequence of this silencing we performed experiments through which we uncovered a previously unknown role in the regulation of a key DNA repair protein crucial for effective DNA double-strand break repair. Currently we are looking into how ALKBH3 is regulating this protein. Our preliminary data suggests that ALKBH3 is regulating biochemical marks on the mRNA of this DNA double-strand break repair protein. This type of regulation of a DNA repair protein could be a novel addition to the field of DNA repair and could provide valuable insight into personalized treatment for cancer patients.