What Role Does AP Endonuclease Have in the Base-Excision Repair

What role does AP endonuclease have in the base-excision repair system?

A) It removes the damaged base from the nucleic acid.
B) It cleaves the phosphodiester backbone after base removal.
C) It removes nucleotides from the broken strand of the nucleic acid.
D) It adds new nucleotides to replace the excised ones.
E) It creates a new phosphodiester bond to repair the backbone.