Tissue Specificity of DNA Damage and Repair

Abstract

DNA is a remarkable biochemical macromolecule tasked with storing the genetic information that instructs life on planet Earth. However, its inherent chemical instability within the cellular milieu is incompatible with the accurate transmission of genetic information to subsequent generations. Therefore, biochemical pathways that continuously survey and repair DNA are essential to sustain life, and the fundamental mechanisms by which different DNA lesions are repaired have remained well conserved throughout evolution. Nonetheless, the emergence of multicellular organisms led to profound differences in cellular context and physiology, leading to large variations in the predominant sources of DNA damage between different cell types and in the relative contribution of different DNA repair pathways toward genome maintenance in different tissues. While we continue to make large strides into understanding how individual DNA repair mechanisms operate on a molecular level, much less attention is given to these cell type-specific differences. This short review aims to provide a broad overview of DNA damage and repair mechanisms to nonspecialists and to highlight some fundamental open questions in tissue and cell-type-specificity of these processes, which may have profound implications for our understanding of important pathophysiological processes such as cancer, neurodegeneration, and aging.