Researchers used a synthetic DNA structure to mimic an intermediate of homologous recombination, the most reliable cell cycle process to repair DNA correctly. This DNA structure was then used as bait to capture nuclear proteins in the hopes of identifying a new player in the cellular response to DNA damage.

These proteins were isolated and subsequently identified through mass spectrometry, revealing that the Heterogeneous Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein D (HNRNPD) was indeed able to bind chromatin DNA, a prerequisite for a protein involved in DNA repair, and to re-localize specifically onto DNA damaged sites.