With the help of an in vitro experiment using yeast, it was discovered that RSC is required for nucleosome remodeling.
[1] The RSC complex (specifically Rsc8 and Rsc30) is crucial when fixing double-stranded breaks via non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) in yeast.
[5] This repair mechanism is important for cell survival, as well for maintaining an organism's genome.
The mutations associated with double-stranded breaks have been linked to cancer and other deadly genetic diseases.
[7] These loops can consist of hundreds of base pairs, but the length depends on how tightly the DNA is wound, as well as how much ATP is present during this translocation.
RSC can release the loop either by translocating back to the original state at a comparable velocity, or by losing one of its two contacts.
[7] The following is a list of RSC components that have been identified in yeast, their corresponding human orthologs, and their functions: