Consequences and repair of radiation-induced DNA damage: fifty years of fun questions and answers

Abstract

Purpose

To summarize succinctly the 50 years of research undertaken in my laboratory and to provide an overview of my career in science. It is certainly a privilege to have been asked by Carmel Mothersill and Penny Jeggo to contribute to this special issue of the International Journal of Radiation Biology focusing on the work of women in the radiation sciences.

Conclusion

My students, post-docs and I identified and characterized a number of the enzymes that recognize and remove radiation-damaged DNA bases, the DNA glycosylases, which are the first enzymes in the Base Excision Repair (BER) pathway. Although this pathway actually evolved to repair oxidative and other endogenous DNA damages, it is also responsible for removing the vast majority of radiation-induced DNA damages including base damages, alkali-labile lesions and single strand breaks. However, because of its high efficiency, attempted BER of clustered lesions produced by ionizing radiation, can have disastrous effects on cellular DNA. We also evaluated the potential biological consequences of many of the radiation-induced DNA lesions. In addition, with collaborators, we employed computational techniques, x-ray crystallography and single molecule approaches to answer many questions at the molecular level.

Keywords:

• DNA glycosylases
• DNA base lesions
• base excision repair
• DNA damage consequences

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susan S. Wallace

Dr. Susan S. Wallace received her Ph.D. in Biophysics from Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. After her post-doctoral studies at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, she became an Assistant Professor at the Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of New York and was subsequently recruited to New York Medical College. She then went to the University of Vermont to set up and Chair a new Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. Dr. Wallace trained 16 graduate students and over 30 post-doctoral fellows and together they published over 200 papers.