Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a major pathway for repairing a variety of bulky
DNA damages including those introduced by UV irradiation. The XPA protein appears to play a key role in NER at sites of damage as a scaffold for other repair proteins in order to ensure that the damages are appropriately excised. XPA binds with affinity to
irradiated DNA, those with "bulky adducts and cisplatin lesions, and DNA duplexes with loops and bulges. Among the repair proteins with which XPA interacts is a protein complex (including the
ERCC1 protein) that is capable of incising DNA at sites of damage.
Xpa mutant individuals often show the severe clinical symptoms of
xeroderma pigmentosum, a condition involving extreme sensitivity to sunlight and a high incidence of skin cancer. == Interactions ==