XRCC2: Proteins and Enzymes

RAD51 is a eukaryotic homologue of E. coli RecA, a recombinase, and a component of the homologous recombination DNA repair pathway. RAD51 forms a nucleoprotein filament (through binding RAD52 and single stranded DNA that are exposed following double strand breaks) that initiates recombination. There are five human homologues of RAD51; XRCC2, XRCC3, RAD51B, RAD51C, RAD51D, and they interact among themselves to form one big complex or several smaller complexes. XRCC2 (X Ray Repair Cross Complementing 2), a component of the homologous recombination pathway, is essential for repairing the double strand DNA breaks by homologous recombination between sister chromatids.