Cellular defense against fatal associations between proteins and DNA

DNA -- the carrier of genetic information -- is constantly threatened by damage originating from exogenous and endogenous sources. Very special DNA lesions are DNA-protein crosslinks -- proteins covalently linked to DNA. So far hardly anything was known about repair mechanisms specifically targeting DNA-protein crosslinks. Scientists have now discovered a protease that is able to chop down the protein component of DNA-protein crosslinks, thereby enabling organisms to copy their genetic informati...