Abstract
Genetic recombination occurs in all organisms and is vital for genome stability. Indeed, in humans, aberrant recombination can lead to diseases such as cancer. Our understanding of homologous recombination is built upon more than a century of scientific inquiry, but achieving a more complete picture using ensemble biochemical and genetic approaches is hampered by population heterogeneity and transient recombination intermediates. Recent advances in single-molecule and super-resolution microscopy methods help to overcome these limitations and have led to new and refined insights into recombination mechanisms, including a detailed understanding of DNA helicase function and synaptonemal complex structure. The ability to view cellular processes at single-molecule resolution promises to transform our understanding of recombination and related processes.
🔬 Techniques
🧬 Organisms
✨ Fluorophores
🧪 Sample Preparation
🔬 Cell Lines
📷 Detectors
💻 Software Details
🏛️ Research Organizations (ROR)
Affiliated research institutions:
📊 Figures
Figure 1
Overview of homologous recombination
a | The canonical homologous recombination pathway begins with formation of a double-strand break (DSB). b | DSB formation is followed by end-processing reactions in which the 5u2032 single-stranded D...
Figure 2
Examples of single-molecule imaging methods
a | Simplified illustration of the illumination geometry used for typical epifluorescence microscopy. The excitation light passes through the entire sample volume, so all fluorophores present within t...
Figure 3
Examples of single-molecule experiments
a | Single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) assay for monitoring protein RecA binding to a short single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) overhang 85 . Left panel, formation of the RecA fil...
Figure 4
Super-resolution imaging methods
Part A shows a schematic representation of the principles allowing for super-resolution (SR) imaging by photo-activated localization microscopy (PALM) and stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy ...
Figure 5
Super-resolution images of the synaptonemal complex
a | A simplified overview of meiosis, which highlights DNA replication and segregation events involving a diploid cell with a single pair of homologous chromosomes (shown in red and black). Following ...
Figure 6
SIM imaging of recombination structures in living cells
a | Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) image showing that protein RecA forms large structures, referred to as RecA bundles, during DNA repair in living Escherichia coli cells 147 . b | A cartoon...
Figure images are served from the NIH/NLM PubMed Central Open Access Subset or Europe PMC; copyright remains with the publishers and authors.
💬 Discussion
0 commentsNo comments yet. Be the first to start a discussion!
Leave a Comment