According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the second leading cause of death in 2018. Health authorities and research institutions dedicate vast resources to improve early detection and prevention techniques. Importance of preventative medicine and seeking to reduce cancers is highly emphasized in the UAE Vision 2021 National Agenda. This research aims at studying structure/function basis for disruptions in Base Excision DNA repair due to posttranslational modifications (PTMs) affecting DNA polymerase β (Pol β), an enzyme that is part of a DNA repair mechanism that protects against cancers. This project will bring together complementary skills to deliver a whole-system approach to investigate the impact of PTMs with a view to identifying key phosphorylation-induced structural changes affecting enzyme function. The study has the potential to provide novel pre-cancer indicators.
