How cells fix damaged DNA
Official title: Structural Cell Biology of DNA Repair Machines
Funded at University of Calif-Lawrenc Berkeley Lab · NIH-11178311 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Scientists are mapping how the cell's DNA-repair machinery works to help make cancer treatments more effective for people with cancer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Calif-Lawrenc Berkeley Lab NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Berkeley, United States) |
| Project start | September 27, 2001 |
| Project end | August 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $3,046,609 |
| NIH project number | 5P01CA092584-25 |
| Project ID | NIH-11178311 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Patients with cancer who are receiving chemotherapy, radiation, or PARP inhibitors, or who can donate tumor or blood samples for laboratory study, would be most relevant to this program.
✕Less likely to help
People without cancer or patients seeking an immediate new treatment are unlikely to receive direct clinical benefit from this laboratory-focused grant.
What this research studies
From my perspective, this project team is working to understand the tiny molecular machines that fix DNA damage which can cause cancer or make treatments stop working. They will use high-resolution structural methods, biochemical experiments, and shared core labs to solve 3D structures of repair complexes and test how those parts behave. Four linked projects focus on damage from chemotherapy, double-strand breaks from radiation or replication, PARP-related repair condensates, and replication fork stress, while cores speed preparation and analysis of the complexes. The aim is to translate those structural insights into biological knowledge that could point to new ways to improve cancer therapy.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal new drug targets and strategies to prevent treatment resistance and improve the effectiveness of cancer therapies.
How similar studies have gone: Structural studies of DNA repair have already contributed to treatments like PARP inhibitors, but this program aims to provide deeper and more actionable molecular detail.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Calif-Lawrenc Berkeley Lab
Berkeley, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Tainer, John a. — University of Calif-Lawrenc Berkeley Lab
- Study coordinator: Tainer, John a.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.