UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2011 Oct;15(5):595-605. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2011.08.003. Epub 2011 Aug 22.
Helicases are molecular motor proteins that couple NTP hydrolysis to directional movement along nucleic acids. A class of helicases characterized by their ring-shaped hexameric structures translocate processively and unidirectionally along single-stranded (ss) DNA to separate the strands of double-stranded (ds) DNA, aiding both in the initiation and fork progression during DNA replication. These replicative ring-shaped helicases are found from virus to human. We review recent biochemical and structural studies that have expanded our understanding on how hexameric helicases use the NTPase reaction to translocate on ssDNA, unwind dsDNA, and how their physical and functional interactions with the DNA polymerase and primase enzymes coordinate replication of the two strands of dsDNA.
解旋酶是一种分子马达蛋白,能够将 NTP 水解与沿着核酸的定向运动偶联。一类以其环形六聚体结构为特征的解旋酶沿着单链 DNA 进行连续的单向移动,将双链 DNA 的链分开,有助于 DNA 复制过程中的起始和叉进展。这些复制性环形解旋酶存在于从病毒到人类的各个物种中。我们回顾了最近的生化和结构研究,这些研究扩展了我们对六聚体解旋酶如何利用 NTPase 反应在 ssDNA 上移动、解开 dsDNA 以及它们与 DNA 聚合酶和引物酶的物理和功能相互作用如何协调双链 DNA 的两条链复制的理解。