Repair Roles of HSMUG1 Assessed by Damage Specificity and Cellular Activity

Single-strand-selective monofunctional uracil-DNA glycosylase (SMUG1) was previously identified as a putative backup enzyme of major mammalian uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG). However, the subsequent studies have shown conflicting results about the substrate specificity of SMUG1. In the present study, to clarify the repair role of SMUG1, we determined the damage specificity of purified human SMUG1 (hSMUG1) and its contribution to repair of oxidized bases in HeLa cell extracts.