<P> RAD52 homolog (S. cerevisiae), also known as RAD52, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the RAD52 gene . </P> <P> The protein encoded by this gene shares similarity with Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rad52, a protein important for DNA double - strand break repair and homologous recombination . This gene product was shown to bind single - stranded DNA ends, and mediate the DNA - DNA interaction necessary for the annealing of complementary DNA strands . It was also found to interact with DNA recombination protein RAD51, which suggested its role in RAD51 - related DNA recombination and repair . </P> <P> RAD52 mediates RAD51 function in homologous recombinational repair (HRR) in both yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in mammalian cells of mice and humans . However, the RAD52 protein has distinctly different functions in HRR of yeast and humans . In S. cerevisae, Rad52 protein, acting alone, facilitates the loading of Rad51 protein onto single - stranded DNA pre-coated with replication protein A in the presynaptic phase of recombination . </P> <P> In mice and humans, however, BRCA2 primarily mediates orderly assembly of RAD51 on ssDNA, the form that is active for homologous pairing and strand invasion . BRCA2 also redirects RAD51 from dsDNA and prevents dissociation from ssDNA . In addition, the four paralogs of RAD51, consisting of RAD51B (RAD51L1), RAD51C (RAD51L2), RAD51D (RAD51L3), XRCC2 form a complex called the BCDX2 complex . This complex participates in RAD51 recruitment or stabilization at damage sites . The BCDX2 complex appears to act by facilitating the assembly or stability of the RAD51 nucleoprotein filament . However, in the presence of a BRCA2 mutation, human RAD52 can mediate RAD51 assembly on ssDNA and substitute for BRCA2 in homologous recombinational DNA repair, though with lower efficiency than BRCA2 . </P>

Rad52 is involved in which type of dna damage repair