Brca2, Rad51 and Mre11: performing balancing acts on replication forks.

Homologous recombination (HR) is required for faithful repair of double strand breaks (DSBs) and is believed to be important for DNA replication under stressful conditions in unicellular organisms. However, its role during DNA replication in high eukaryotes has always been elusive. In particular, due to the essential nature of its main players it has been difficult to dissect the direct role of HR in DNA replication. Recent studies revealed that some key HR factors such as Rad51 and BRCA2 play unexpected functions during DNA replication by protecting nascent DNA from Mre11 mediated degradation, which takes place at stalled replication forks. These novel functions appear to be essential to ensure smooth progression of DNA replication and to promote maintenance of genome stability.