The phosphatase activity of mammalian polynucleotide kinase takes precedence over its kinase activity in repair of single strand breaks.

The dual function mammalian DNA repair enzyme, polynucleotide kinase (PNK), facilitates strand break repair through catalysis of 5'-hydroxyl phosphorylation and 3'-phosphate dephosphorylation. We have examined the relative activities of the kinase and phosphatase functions of PNK using a novel assay, which allows the simultaneous characterization of both activities in processing nicks and gaps containing both 3'-phosphate and 5'-hydroxyl. Under multiple turnover conditions the phosphatase activity of the purified enzyme is significantly more active than its kinase activity.