Masonic Cancer Center's Lisa Peterson, Ph.D., was among researchers in the United States and England who contributed to finding a new way for DNA to repair itself, a process that is important for the protection of the genome and prevention of cancer. The study was led by researchers at The Scripps Research Institute. The finding was published in the June 11, 2009 issue of Nature.

Peterson is a member of the Masonic Cancer Center's Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Research Program and a professor in the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health.

In the Nature article, researchers described the new way they discovered as "one that combines elements from the known mechanisms and an unrelated second method that was previously not known to play a role in this type of DNA repair."

According to a report in Science Daily, "This new mechanism is controlled by alkyltransferase-like proteins (ATLs), whose structure and function has been known and which had been identified only in bacteria and yeast. In addition to describing the function of ATLs, in the new study the scientists showed that ATLs exist in a multicellular organism, the sea anemone, which suggestions this protein or its cousins in terms of repair activity also exist in other species, including humans."

Before the new study, the Science Daily report continues, "ATLs were believed to be involved in DNA damage responses because they protected cells from DNA alkylation damage in lab experiments, but no one understood how they worked or what they did.

Additionally, before the new study "scientists didn't know if ATLs functioned outside of single cell organisms. In the new study, scientists discovered ATLs in two types of ancient organisms, archaeal bacteria and in sea anemone, suggesting this new bridging pathway may be general to most cells and organisms."

---

Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota is part of the University's Academic Health Center. It is designated by the National Cancer Institute as a comprehensive cancer center for cancer research, treatment, and education. For more information, call 612-624-2620 or visit www.cancer.umn.edu.

Media Contact:

Mary Lawson, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, 612-624-6165, mlawson@umn.edu