The FA pathway is primarily responsible for repairing DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs), which are highly toxic lesions that can inhibit replication and transcription. The pathway involves a coordinated action of at least 22 known FA genes. Upon detection of ICLs, the FA core complex is activated, leading to the monoubiquitination of the FANCD2 and FANCI proteins, which then recruit additional repair proteins to resolve the crosslinks.
