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Michael Lieber
The Lieber laboratory is focused on DNA double-strand DNA breaks.
The major repair pathway for such breaks is called non-homologous
DNA end joining, or NHEJ. This is the only DNA repair pathway that
is imprecise. Because of this imprecision, every time that NHEJ
repairs a double-strand break, information is permanently lost from
that cell. Some mice mutant for the NHEJ pathway have features of
premature aging. The Lieber lab has documented that NHEJ mutants
have an increase in chromosome breaks and that these breaks are due
to oxidative metabolism.
The lab is interested in the interface of oxidation, DNA damage, and
aging. The Lieber laboratory uses both mouse and human NHEJ mutants
to study the possible link to aging. The retina provides a
particularly good neuronal cell model for these studies.
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