Function
Pol μ is a member of the X family of DNA polymerases. It participates in resynthesis of damaged or missing nucleotides during the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway of DNA repair. Pol μ interacts with Ku and DNA ligase IV, which also participate in NHEJ. It is structurally and functionally related to pol λ, and, like pol λ, pol μ has a BRCT domain that is thought to mediate interactions with other DNA repair proteins. Unlike pol λ, however, pol μ has the unique ability to add a base to a blunt end that is templated by the overhang on the opposite end of the double-strand break. Pol μ is also closely related to terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT), a specialized DNA polymerase that adds random nucleotides to DNA ends during V(D)J recombination, the process by which B-cell and T-cell receptor diversity is generated in the vertebrate immune system. Like TdT, pol μ participates in V(D)J recombination, but only during heavy chain rearrangements. This is distinct from pol λ, which is involved in light chain rearrangements.
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