Prof. Dr. Kerstin Gari

Area of Research

Description of Research Interest

Cells are constantly exposed to factors that damage DNA, either from exogenous sources, such as UV light, or endogenous sources, such as oxidative stress. Moreover, DNA replication itself poses a problem to genome integrity. Not surprisingly, a huge number of proteins work together to faithfully replicate DNA and to detect, signal and repair DNA damage. Failure to do so results in genome instability, one of the hallmarks of cancer.
Over the last years, a considerable number of proteins involved in DNA metabolism have been identified to bind to an iron-sulphur (FeS) cluster as a cofactor. Considering that – upon FeS cluster oxidation – free iron atoms can generate reactive oxygen species and damage DNA, the abundance of FeS proteins in DNA replication and repair has come as a surprise, and the function of FeS clusters in these processes has remained largely elusive to date. At the same time, their redox sensitivity makes FeS clusters particularly interesting and versatile cofactors that would be uniquely suited e.g. to sense oxidative stress conditions and allow adaption to suboptimal conditions of DNA replication.
We exploit a combination of complementary experimental approaches and systems, such as molecular and cellular biology, proteomics, and biochemistry, in order to gain insight into the role of FeS clusters in DNA replication and repair.