Prolonged persistence of mutagenic DNA lesions in somatic cells.

ABSTRACT: DNA is subject to continual damage, leaving each cell with thousands of individual DNA lesions at any given moment^1-3. The efficiency of DNA repair means that most known classes of lesion have a half-life of minutes to hours^3,4, but the extent to which DNA damage can persist for longer durations remains unknown. Here, using high-resolution phylogenetic trees from 89 donors, we identified mutations arising from 818 DNA lesions that persisted across multiple cell cycles in normal human stem cells from blood, liver and bronchial epithelium^5-12. Persistent DNA lesions occurred at increased rates, with distinctive mutational signatures, in donors exposed to tobacco or chemotherapy, suggesting that they can arise from exogenous mutagens. In haematopoietic stem ce

SUBMITTER: Spencer Chapman M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11839459 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature