Helicases are enzymes that unwind DNA and RNA. They're central to cellular life, implicated in a number of cancers and infections—and, alas, extraordinarily difficult to target with drugs.
Biochemistry
Mar 7, 2024
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31
Researchers at Umeå University have discovered how a certain type of protein moves for DNA to be copied. The discovery could have implications for understanding how antibiotic resistance genes spread between bacteria.
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 27, 2023
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78
Knowing the structure of a complex biological system isn't nearly enough to understand how it works. It helps to know how the system moves.
Biotechnology
Aug 9, 2022
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130
Loading of replicative helicases onto DNA is a key event during the initiation of chromosomal DNA replication. It takes place at specific chromosomal regions termed origins and is facilitated by the ORC protein complex. By ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Sep 21, 2020
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74
Staphylococcus aureus—also known as "golden staph"—has the ability to develop in highly variable environmental conditions (on the skin, in the nose, on sterile surfaces, and so forth). Its great adaptability depends on ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 3, 2020
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149
DNA replication is a complex process in which a helicase ring separates the DNA molecule's two entwined and encoded strands, allowing each to precisely reproduce its missing half. Until recently, however, researchers have ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 26, 2019
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87
DNA replication is essential to all life, yet many basic mechanisms in that process remain unknown to scientists. The structure of the replisome—a block of proteins responsible for unwinding the DNA helix and then creating ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 2, 2015
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73
The proteins that drive DNA replication—the force behind cellular growth and reproduction—are some of the most complex machines on Earth. The multistep replication process involves hundreds of atomic-scale moving parts ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 15, 2014
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Roughly six feet of DNA are packed into every human cell, so it is not surprising that our genetic material occasionally folds into odd shapes such as hairpins, crosses and clover leafs. But these structures can block the ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 3, 2013
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Scientists have revealed how a bacterial enzyme has evolved an energy-efficient method to move long distances along DNA. The findings, published in Science, present further insight into the coupling of chemical and mechanical ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 19, 2013
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