DNA repair protein XPA binds replication protein A (RPA).

XPA is a zinc finger DNA-binding protein, which is missing or altered in group A xeroderma pigmentosum cells and known to be involved in the damage-recognition step of the nucleotide excision repair (NER) processes. Using the yeast two-hybrid system to search for proteins that interact with XPA, we obtained the 34-kDa subunit of replication protein A (RPA, also known as HSSB and RFA). RPA is a stable complex of three polypeptides of 70, 34, 11 kDa and has been shown to be essential in the early steps of NER as well as in replication and recombination. We also demonstrate here that the RPA complex associates with XPA. These results suggest that RPA may cooperate with XPA in the early steps of the NER processes.