HMCES localizations
HMCES [ENSP00000372955]
Abasic site processing protein HMCES; Sensor of abasic sites in single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) required to preserve genome integrity by promoting error-free repair of abasic sites . Acts as an enzyme that recognizes and binds abasic sites in ssDNA at replication forks and chemically modifies the lesion by forming a covalent cross-link with DNA . The HMCES DNA-protein cross-link is then degraded by the proteasome . Promotes error-free repair of abasic sites by acting as a 'suicide' enzyme that is degraded, thereby protecting abasic sites from translesion synthesis (TLS) polymerases and endonucleases that are error-prone and would generate mutations and double-strand breaks . Acts as a protease: mediates autocatalytic processing of its N-terminal methionine in order to expose the catalytic cysteine (By similarity). Specifically binds 5- hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC)-containing DNA in stem cells (By similarity). May act as an endonuclease that specifically cleaves 5hmC- containing DNA; additional experiments are however required to confirm this activity in vivo (By similarity).
Synonyms: HMCES, D6R9T3, D6RAI0, D6RAZ3, D6RGK7 ...