Biochemical characterization of the RNA-binding and RNA-DNA strand exchange activities of the human RAD52 protein.

RAD52 is a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein that functions in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by promoting the annealing of complementary DNA strands. RAD52 may also play an important role in an RNA transcript-dependent type of DSB repair, in which it reportedly binds to RNA and mediates the RNA-DNA strand exchange reaction. However, the mechanistic details of these functions are still unclear.