Melike Caglayan

Biography

heads the DNA Repair and Nucleic Acid Enzymology Group and holds a secondary appointment in the NIEHS Epigenetics and Stem Cell Biology Laboratory.The group conducts physical, biochemical, cell and molecular biology research on mammalian base excision repair enzymes—in particular, the study of gap-filling DNA synthesis in DNA repair. To define the biological role of DNA polymerase beta, the group and collaborators constructed DNA polymerase "knock-out" cell lines from a transgenic mouse model. These cell lines are devoid of all DNA polymerase β mRNA and protein, and cell extracts lack full base excision repair capacity, thus establishing a role of this particular DNA polymerase in base excision repair.

Research Interest

Physical, biochemical, cell and molecular biology research on mammalian base excision repair enzymes—in particular, the study of gap-filling DNA synthesis in DNA repair Structural analysis to improve understanding of the fundamental mechanism of DNA synthesis and templating Investigation of cellular signaling of DNA damage