mismatch repair


mis·match re·pair

replacement of mismatched base pairs by removal of the incorrect base and replacement with the correct base by DNA polymerase.

mismatch repair

An intrinsic intracellular mechanism which corrects nucleotide insertion errors made during DNA replication, by excising the mismatched base pairs that escaped correction by the proofreading activities of DNA polymerases and replacing the mismatched bases with the correct ones.

mismatch repair

a DNA REPAIR mechanism that operates to correct errors caused by MISMATCH OF BASES in newly replicated DNA. The newly synthesized DNA strand containing the incorrect BASE is cut, the base removed and the correct base inserted. In ESCHERICHIA COLI, delayed METHYLATION is used as a means of distinguishing the old (parental) DNA strand from the new (daughter) strand of the newly replicated DUPLEX. A METHYL TRANSFERASE ENZYME acts slowly after DNA REPLICATION to ensure that the daughter strand remains undermethylated, relative to the parent strand, for a while. This allows the repair system to recognize the daughter strand and replace the wrong base.