APEX1
Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens
DNA-(apurinic or apyrimidinic site) lyase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the APEX1 gene.
Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites (also called "abasic sites") occur frequently in DNA molecules by spontaneous hydrolysis, by DNA damaging agents or by DNA glycosylases that remove specific abnormal bases. AP sites are pre-mutagenic lesions that can prevent normal DNA replication. All cells, from simple prokaryotes to humans, have evolved systems to identify and repair such sites. Class II AP endonucleases cleave the phosphodiester backbone 5' to the AP site, thereby initiating a process known as base excision repair (BER). The APEX1 gene (alternatively named APE1, HAP1, APEN) encodes the major AP endonuclease in human cells. Splice variants have been found for this gene; all encode the same protein.
01Interactions
APEX1 has been shown to interact with MUTYH, Flap structure-specific endonuclease 1 and XRCC1.
02Aging
Deficiency of APEX1 causes accummulation of DNA damage leading to both cellular senescence and features of premature aging. This finding is consistent with the theory that DNA damage is a primary cause of aging.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “APEX1”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
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