Metabolism of postsynaptic recombination intermediates

DNA double strand breaks and blocked or collapsed DNA replication forks are potentially genotoxic lesions that can result in deletions, aneuploidy or cell death. Homologous recombination (HR) is an essential process employed during repair of these forms of damage. HR allows for accurate restoration of the damaged DNA through use of a homologous template for repair. Although inroads have been made towards understanding the mechanisms of HR, ambiguity still surrounds aspects of the process. Until recently, relatively little was known concerning metabolism of postsynaptic RAD51 filaments or how synthesis dependent strand annealing intermediates are processed. This review discusses recent findings implicating RTEL1, HELQ and the Caenorhabditis elegans RAD51 paralog RFS-1 in post-strand exchange events during HR.