The nucleotide excision repair pathway is a mechanism to repair damage to DNA. The protein encoded by this gene is involved in transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair and is an integral member of the basal transcription factor BTF2/TFIIH complex. The gene product has ATP-dependent DNA helicase activity and belongs to the RAD3/XPD subfamily of helicases. Defects in this gene can result in three different disorders, the cancer-prone syndrome xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group D, trichothiodystrophy, and Cockayne syndrome. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Aug 2008] CIViC Summary for ERCC2 Gene ERCC2 functions as a DNA repair gene involved in separating the double helix via 5’-3’ helicase activity. It forms a part of the transcription factor II Human (TFIIH) complex and is ATP-dependent. The TFIIH complex is known to be involved in the nucleotide excision repair pathway (NER) which can repair DNA damage caused by chemotherapeutic treatment and basal transcription. ERCC2 variants have been observed in a variety of cancers. A number of studies have suggested ERCC2 variants can act as biomarkers to predict response to neoadjuvant treatment, and cancer prognosis. Additionally the Lys751Gln polymorphism has been observed to increase risk in a number of cancer types; however, results have been conflicting.
Forensic Context
A study in rats using an organotypic hippocampal slice model of traumatic brain injury demonstrated that the ERCC2 is implicated in axon regeneration blockade following severe (50% stretch) injury, as it was upregulated and mentioned in the introduction and discussion of the research [Di Pietro et al. DOI:10.1089/neu.2009.1095].