ArticleeLife2016
Polymerase θ is a robust terminal transferase that oscillates between three different mechanisms during end-joining.
Article in eLife, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
72 citing papers in PubMed, 105 citations in OpenAlex.
- Optimizing microhomology-based genome editing by engineering DNA polymerase θ for improved efficiency and reduced on-target indels.Cell reports methods · 2026Article
- Recurrent DNA break clusters drive replication-stress-induced copy number variants and genome diversification.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Insights into the functional coordination of LigD and Ku in bacterial nonhomologous end joining.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Real-Time Visualization of G2L4 Reverse Transcriptase in DNA Repair via Microhomology-Mediated End Joining.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- DNA repair pathway-related proteins are involved in the circularization step of microDNA eccDNACommunications biology · 2025Article
- Plant tolerance mechanisms to DNA-damaging UV stress.Journal of experimental botany · 2025Review
- RTx-303, an Orally Bioavailable Polθ Polymerase Inhibitor That Potentiates PARP Inhibitors in BRCA Mutant Tumors.Journal of medicinal chemistry · 2025Article
- Fine-Tuning Homology-Directed Repair (HDR) for Precision Genome Editing: Current Strategies and Future Directions.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Structural basis of error-prone DNA synthesis by DNA polymerase θ.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Improved precision, sensitivity, and adaptability of ordered two-template relay cDNA library preparation for RNA sequencing.RNA (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Nucleic acid joining enzymes: biological functions and synthetic applications beyond DNA.The Biochemical journal · 2025Review
- A mobile genetic element-derived primase-polymerase harbors multiple activities implicated in DNA replication and repair.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- The Evolutionary Potential of Chromoanagenesis.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2025Article
- Zebrafish Polymerase Theta and human Polymerase Theta: Orthologues with homologous function.PloS one · 2025Article
- Harnessing eukaryotic retroelement proteins for transgene insertion into human safe-harbor loci.Nature biotechnology · 2025Article
- Improved precision, sensitivity, and adaptability of Ordered Two-Template Relay cDNA library preparation for RNA sequencing.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Replication stress induces POLQ-mediated structural variant formation throughout common fragile sites after entry into mitosis.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Microhomology-Mediated End-Joining Chronicles: Tracing the Evolutionary Footprints of Genome Protection.Annual review of cell and developmental biology · 2024Review
- Dynamic stem-loop extension by Pol θ and templated insertion during DNA repair.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2024Article
- Microsatellite break-induced replication generates highly mutagenized extrachromosomal circular DNAs.NAR cancer · 2024Article
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
DNA polymerase θ (Polθ) promotes insertion mutations during alternative end-joining (alt-EJ) by an unknown mechanism. Here, we discover that mammalian Polθ transfers nucleotides to the 3' terminus of DNA during alt-EJ in vitro and in vivo by oscillating between three different modes of terminal transferase activity: non-templated extension, templated extension in cis, and templated extension in trans. This switching mechanism requires manganese as a co-factor for Polθ template-independent activity and allows for random combinations of templated and non-templated nucleotide insertions. We further find that Polθ terminal transferase activity is most efficient on DNA containing 3' overhangs, is facilitated by an insertion loop and conserved residues that hold the 3' primer terminus, and is surprisingly more proficient than terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase. In summary, this report identifies an unprecedented switching mechanism used by Polθ to generate genetic diversity during alt-EJ and characterizes Polθ as among the most proficient terminal transferases known.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.