Abstract

DNA double-strand break (DSB) signaling and repair processes are positioned at the crossroad of nuclear pathways that regulate DNA replication, cell division, senescence and apoptosis. Importantly, errors in DSB repair may lead to lethal or potentially tumorigenic chromosome rearrangements. Therefore, understanding cellular DSB response mechanisms is important for both cancer prevention and treatment. Visualization of DSB repair proteins, both at the level of single molecules and at the level of cells and tissues is a powerful tool in unraveling DNA damage response. This review summarizes several available techniques for visualization of DSB repair proteins and describes types of information that can be obtained using these techniques.

Keywords: DNA double-strand break (DSB), DNA replication, cell division, apoptosis, tumorigenic chromosome, cancer prevention, X-Ray crystallography