Molecular genetics of eukaryotic DNA excision repair.

DNA repair plays a key role in the prevention of carcinogenesis and mutagenesis. Defective DNA repair has been implicated in various human hereditary disorders that predispose affected individuals to cancer. This article reviews our current understanding of one of major DNA repair systems--the nucleotide excision repair pathway--with special emphasis on the novel findings that have emerged from molecular genetic analysis of yeast and cultured mammalian cells.