DNA Damage and Repair

These flashcards cover key terminologies and concepts related to DNA damage and repair as discussed in the lecture.

DNA Damage

Injury to DNA that may cause mutations, including single and double strand breaks, oxidation, and base modifications.

Base Excision Repair (BER)

A DNA repair pathway that corrects specific base lesions and single strand breaks.

Mismatch Repair (MMR)

A repair mechanism that corrects mispaired bases in newly synthesized DNA.

Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER)

A repair process that removes bulky DNA adducts and helix-distorting lesions.

Non-Homologous End Joining (NHEJ)

A pathway that repairs double-strand breaks by directly ligating the broken ends.

Alkylating Agents

Chemicals that add alkyl groups to DNA, causing transitions and potentially leading to mutations.

Point Mutation

A mutation where a single nucleotide base is changed, inserted, or deleted.

Transition Mutation

A point mutation where a purine is replaced by another purine or a pyrimidine by another pyrimidine.

Transversion Mutation

A point mutation in which a purine is replaced with a pyrimidine or vice versa.

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)

Chemically reactive molecules containing oxygen that can cause significant DNA damage.