InterPro domain: IPR038973

Mismatch repair contributes to the overall fidelity of DNA replication by targeting mispaired bases that arise through replication errors during homologous recombination and as a result of DNA damage. It involves the correction of mismatched base pairs that have been missed by the proofreading element of the DNA polymerase complex [ 1 ]. This entry represents a family of evolutionarily related DNA mismatch repair proteins, including MutL, Mlh1, Mlh2 and Mlh3, and Pms 1 and 2. Bacterial MutL proteins are homodimers, while their eukaryotic homologues form heterodimers consisting of the MutL homologue Mlh1 and either Pms1, Pms2 or Mlh3 [ 2 , 3 ]. MutL homologues share a conserved ATP binding site [ 4 ].

1. DNA mismatch repair: molecular mechanisms and biological function. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 57, 579-608
2. Eukaryotic Mismatch Repair in Relation to DNA Replication. Annu. Rev. Genet. 49, 291-313
3. Functional specificity of MutL homologs in yeast: evidence for three Mlh1-based heterocomplexes with distinct roles during meiosis in recombination and mismatch correction. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 96, 13914-9
4. Differential ATP binding and intrinsic ATP hydrolysis by amino-terminal domains of the yeast Mlh1 and Pms1 proteins. J. Biol. Chem. 277, 3673-9