Component of the MRN complex, which plays a central role in double-strand break (DSB) repair, DNA recombination, maintenance of telomere integrity and meiosis (  ). The complex possesses single-strand endonuclease activity and double-strand-specific 3'-5' exonuclease activity, which are provided by MRE11 (  ). RAD50 may be required to bind DNA ends and hold them in close proximity (  ). This could facilitate searches for short or long regions of sequence homology in the recombining DNA templates, and may also stimulate the activity of DNA ligases and/or restrict the nuclease activity of MRE11 to prevent nucleolytic degradation past a given point (  , ). The complex may also be required for DNA damage signaling via activation of the ATM kinase . In telomeres the MRN complex may modulate t-loop formation .
Subcellular locations: Nucleus, Chromosome, Telomere, Chromosome
Localizes to discrete nuclear foci after treatment with genotoxic agents.