Seeing is believing: DNA zipping promotes DNA repair.
DNA double-strand break repair by homologous recombination is initiated by the Ctp1 protein together with the Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 nuclease complex in  Schizosaccharomyces pombe , but the mechanism by which Ctp1 promotes this process has remained unknown. Andres  et al.  now use atomic force microscopy to image Ctp1-DNA complexes, demonstrating a striking capacity of Ctp1 filaments to bridge DNA molecules. This unanticipated role of Ctp1 might help explain how the processing of DNA ends is coordinated to facilitate DNA break repair.
Cejka P