Nucleotide Excision Repair inCaenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) plays an essential role in many organisms across life domains to preserve and faithfully transmit DNA to the next generation. In humans, NER is essential to prevent DNA damage-induced mutation accumulation and cell death leading to cancer and aging. NER is a versatile DNA repair pathway that repairs many types of DNA damage which distort the DNA helix, such as those induced by solar UV light. A detailed molecular model of the NER pathway has emerged fromin vitroand live cell experiments, particularly using model systems such as bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cell cultures. In recent years, the versatility of the nematodeC. elegansto study DNA damage response (DDR) mechanisms including NER has become increasingly clear. In particular,C. elegansseems to be a convenient tool to study NER during the UV responsein vivo, to analyze this process in the context of a developing and multicellular organism, and to perform genetic screening. Here, we will discuss current knowledge gained from the use ofC. elegansto study NER and the response to UV-induced DNA damage.