POLB: A new role of DNA polymerase beta in mitochondrial base excision repair

The mitochondrial genome is a matrilineally inherited DNA that encodes numerous essential subunits of the respiratory chain in all metazoans. As such mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence integrity is vital to organismal survival, but it has a limited cadre of DNA repair activities, primarily base excision repair (BER). We have known that the mtDNA is significantly oxidized by both endogenous and exogenous sources, but this does not lead to the expected preferential formation of transversion mutations, which suggest a robust base excision repair (BER) system. This year, two different groups reported compelling evidence that what was believed to be exclusively nuclear DNA repair polymerase, POLB, is located in the mitochondria and plays a significant role in mitochondrial BER, mtDNA integrity and mitochondrial function. In this commentary, we review the findings and highlight remaining questions for the field.