| Modification Notes |
HEL308, a DNA repair helicase, is a member of the helicase superfamily 2 and is conserved in eukaryotes and archaea. The human HEL308 gene encodes for a single stranded, 1101 amino acid protein that acts as a DNA dependent ATPase. HEL308 is expressed in ovaries, heart, spleen, thymus, prostate, liver, kidney, and pancreas. It is highly expressed in the testis. During the early stages of DNA recombination, HEL308 plays a critical role in DNA crosslink repair following replication fork arrest. HEL308 is believed to aid in restarting DNA replication by displacing the lagging strand at the stalled replication forks.. Human HEL308 shares homology with the Hel308 locus in Mus musculus and the mus308 locus in Drosophila melanogaster. In adult mice, Hel308 is only expressed in primary spermatocytes in seminiferous tubules of testis. The mus308 gene in D. melanogaster encodes a protein with structural characteristics of both DNA polymerases and helicases. The gene product may also be involved in the repair of lesions other than crosslinks. |