SnapShot: DNA Polymerases II Mammals

Abstract

DNA polymerases ensure the faithful duplication of genetic information inside the nuclease and mitochondria of eukaryotic cells and the nucleoid of prokaryotic cells. These remarkable enzymes synthesize polynucleotide chains based on the complementarity of an incoming nucleotide to an existing DNA template. DNA polymerases are grouped into six families (A, B, C, D, X, and Y). The previous SnapShot (DNA Polymerases I Prokaryotes) described the structural and functional characteristics conserved across the families, using the DNA polymerases from the bacterium Escherichia coli as an example. In this SnapShot, we now highlight DNA polymerases from humans (Homo sapiens) and their relationship to human diseases. However, this list is certainly not exhaustive, and the number of putative links between DNA polymerases and diseases continues to grow.