Break Check: Transcription-Driven Topoisomerase II Collisions near Chromatin Loop Anchors Are Hotspots for DNA Damage and Translocations.

In this issue of Molecular Cell, Gothe, Maman et al. and Canela et al. demonstrate that type II topoisomerase (TOP2B/TOP2A)-mediated DNA breaks, and the oncogenic translocations they generate, are dependent on transcription and governed by chromatin architecture.