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DNA helicases are frequently attracted to regions of DNA damage and are essential for cellular DNA replication, recombination, repair, and transcription. Chemical manipulation of their molecular processes can change the rate at which cancer cells divide, as well as, the efficiency of transactions and cellular homeostasis.
The replication fork is a structure that forms within the long helical DNA during DNA replication. It is produced by enzymes called helicases that break the hydrogen bonds that hold the DNA strands together in a helix.
The process of semiconservative replication for the site of DNA replication is a fork-like DNA structure, the replication fork, where the DNA helix is open, or unwound, exposing unpaired DNA nucleotides for recognition and base pairing for the incorporation of free nucleotides into double-stranded DNA. [3]
DNA is a duplex formed by two anti-parallel strands. Following Meselson-Stahl, the process of DNA replication is semi-conservative, whereby during replication the original DNA duplex is separated into two daughter strands (referred to as the leading and lagging strand templates). Each daughter strand becomes part of a new DNA duplex.
RecQ helicase is a family of helicase enzymes initially found in Escherichia coli [1] that has been shown to be important in genome maintenance. [2] [3] [4] They function through catalyzing the reaction ATP + H 2 O → ADP + P and thus driving the unwinding of paired DNA and translocating in the 3' to 5' direction.
The crystal structure of the Ter DNA-Tus protein complex (A) showing the nonblocking and the fork-blocking faces of Tus. (B) A cross-sectional view of the helicase-arresting surface. Replication of the DNA separating the opposing replication forks leaves the completed chromosomes joined as ‘catenanes’ or topologically interlinked circles ...
The MCM complex consisting of MCM6 (this protein) and MCM2, 4 and 7 possesses DNA helicase activity, and may act as a DNA unwinding enzyme.The hexameric protein complex formed by the MCM proteins is a key component of the pre-replication complex (pre-RC) and may be involved in the formation of replication forks and in the recruitment of other DNA replication related proteins.
It catalyzes the unwinding of double-stranded plasmid DNA that has been nicked at the replication origin by the replication initiation protein. Genetic and biochemical studies have also shown that the helicase plays an important role in cell-survival by regulating the levels of RecA-mediated recombination in Gram-positive bacteria.