The role of a novel family of eukaryotic DNA polymerases in mitochondrial DNA replication

我们的细胞含有DNA，即所谓的“生命的遗传蓝图”，它为我们的基因编码信息。DNA具有简单的重复结构，由两条互补的DNA链组成，形成双螺旋结构。这种结构几乎包含在每个细胞中，并且在细胞分裂时必须被复制。我们的细胞产生大量的蛋白质，负责“复印”DNA，这一过程被称为DNA复制，它非常准确地完成了这项任务。然而，如果这个过程出错，就会导致癌症等疾病的发展。DNA聚合酶是一种蛋白质“机器”，它读取“亲本”DNA的信息，并将其复制产生新的子DNA。我们在人类细胞中发现了一个新的聚合酶家族，其功能目前尚不清楚。这项工作的重点是了解这些新发现的蛋白质是否也在复制和修复DNA中起作用，如果是的话，它们在DNA复制中起什么特殊作用。

Our cells contain DNA, the so called 'genetic blueprint of life' which encodes the information for our genes. DNA has a simple repeating structure composed of two complementary strands of DNA, which form a double-helix structure. This structure is contained in nearly every cell and must be copied as cells divide. Our cells produce a large number of proteins responsible for 'photocopying' this DNA in a process called DNA replication and it does this task with great accuracy. However, if this process goes wrong it can lead to the development of diseases, such as cancer. DNA polymerases are protein 'machines' that read the message of the 'parent' DNA and copy this to produce a new daughter DNA. We have discovered a new family of polymerases in human cells whose function is currently unknown. The focus of this work is to understand if these newly discovered proteins also have roles in replicating and repairing DNA and, if so, what specific role do they play in DNA replication.