| Major areas of research focus in this laboratory are (1) the biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics of DNA repair in eukaryotes and (2) the interaction of the transcriptional machinery with DNA damage. Our DNA repair studies include the characterization of the repair of oxidative and ionizing radiation-induced DNA base damage in the nucleus and mitochondria as well as the elucidation of a broad specificity alternative excision repair pathway. Studies on the effects of various types of DNA damage on RNA polymerases have led to our current investigations on the generation of mutant proteins via transcriptional bypass and miscoding at sites of damage (transcriptional mutagenesis) and the concept that this type of event has important biological consequences, particularly in non-dividing cells. In addition, a recent area of interest is the connection between different DNA repair and damage processing pathways and the relationship to genomic instability. |
