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Uracil in DNA—Its biological significance by Ryszard Olinski; Marek Jurgowiak; Tomasz Zaremba is a Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology article available to read on EtoBox.

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Uracil may arise in DNA as a result of spontaneous cytosine deamination and/or misincorporation of dUMP during DNA replication. In this paper we will review: (i) sources of the origin of uracil in DNA; (ii) some properties of the enzymes responsible for the excision of uracil and their role in the Ig diversification process, which comprises somatic hypermutation and class switch recombination; and (iii) consequences of cytosine deamination in other than the Ig loci, in cell types different than B lymphocytes. Furthermore, the issue concerning the basal level of uracil in DNA and consequences of the presence of U:A pairs for DNA stability and cell functions will be discussed. Finally, we will discuss the clinical significance of aberrant uracil incorporation into DNA and possible involvement of aberrantly expressed AID and the enzyme-induced presence of uracil, in carcinogenesis. Based on the literature data we conclude/hypothesize that the non-canonical base uracil may be present and well tolerated in DNA mostly as U:A pairs, likely in quantities of 10(4) per genome. Although a role of uracil in DNA is not fully defined, it is possible that an ancestral system which once used uraci

Who reads Uracil in DNA—Its biological significance?

Author

Ryszard Olinski; Marek Jurgowiak; Tomasz Zaremba

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Published

2010

Language

EN

Field

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (Life Sciences)