{"id":215591,"date":"2025-06-07T17:06:24","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T22:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/study-finds-protein-droplets-shield-fragile-dna-from-repair-errors"},"modified":"2025-06-07T17:06:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T22:06:24","slug":"study-finds-protein-droplets-shield-fragile-dna-from-repair-errors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/study-finds-protein-droplets-shield-fragile-dna-from-repair-errors","title":{"rendered":"Study finds protein droplets shield fragile DNA from repair errors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/study-finds-protein-droplets-shield-fragile-dna-from-repair-errors.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When DNA breaks inside the cell, it can spell disaster, especially if the damage occurs in areas of the genome that are difficult to repair. Now, scientists Irene Chiolo and Chiara Merigliano at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences have discovered that a protein called Nup98, long known for helping traffic molecules in and out of the cell\u2019s nucleus, plays another surprising role: guiding the cell\u2019s most delicate repairs and reducing the risk of genetic mistakes that can lead to cancer. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.molcel.2025.05.012\" target=\"_blank\">Their findings<\/a> were published in Molecular Cell.<\/p>\n<p>With support from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the American Cancer Society, the researchers revealed that Nup98 forms droplet-like structures deep inside the nucleus. These \u201ccondensates\u201d act as protective bubbles around broken strands of DNA in areas called heterochromatin\u2014zones where the genetic material is so tightly packed that making accurate repairs is especially challenging.<\/p>\n<p>Heterochromatin\u2014a major focus of Chiolo\u2019s research\u2014is filled with repeated DNA sequences, making it easy for the cell to confuse one stretch for another. Nup98\u2019s droplets help lift the damaged section out of that dense zone and create a safer space where it can be repaired accurately, reducing the chance of genetic mix-ups that could lead to cancer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When DNA breaks inside the cell, it can spell disaster, especially if the damage occurs in areas of the genome that are difficult to repair. Now, scientists Irene Chiolo and Chiara Merigliano at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences have discovered that a protein called Nup98, long known for helping traffic molecules [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":396,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,412,1495],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-genetics","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/396"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215591\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}