Eric Hendrickson

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Credentials

PhD

Research Summary

Our objective is to gain an understanding of the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of mammalian DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair. The importance of DNA DSB repair is underscored by the existence of human cancer predisposition diseases, such as Nijmegen chromosome breakage syndrome, ataxia telangiectasia and Fanconi's anemia, which are caused by defects in DNA repair. The high cancer rate associated with these and other human diseases suggests that generalized DNA repair is also critical for many other important biological processes including immune system development, as well as chromosome integrity and stability. In particular, we have shown that DNA DSB repair is also required for telomere maintenance and have demonstrated that defects in DNA DSB repair genes lead to telomere dysfunction and genomic instability. Our basic experimental model system uses recombinant adeno-associated virus- and Cas/CRISPR-mediated gene targeting techniques in human cell lines in culture. In summary, the identification and characterization of the genes and protein factors involved in DSB repair will provide insight into the general mechanisms of DNA recombination and DNA repair and could have therapeutic significance for many types of immune disorders and cancers as well as improving gene therapy methodologies.