MUTM is a base excision repair enzyme that identifies and eliminates a large variety of oxidized purines from correspondingly impaired DNA. MUTM is nondismissable and essential to remove quickly its substrate lesions on the chromosome. MUTM, additionally, mends a large number of the lesions recognized by Endo III, signifying that MUTM takes a prominent part in the overall repair of both purine damage and pyrimidine damage in vivo.