In a recent study scientists from the U.K. found that proteins Sld3-Sld7 detect "switched-on" MCM2-7 helicase and recruit Cdc45 to start DNA replication.
About Helicase:
Helicase is a crucial enzyme in molecular biology, playing an essential role in DNA replication, repair, and transcription.
It is a motor protein and unwinds the double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) into single strands, so that the cell can copy the genetic information stored in them.
Working of Helicase:
First, the enzyme attaches to a particular region of DNA and moves along the molecule.
It uses energy from ATP (the cell’s main chemical energy source) to change its shape and force apart the two DNA strands.
The result is a Y-shaped region called the replication fork, where the two strands are exposed.
However, DNA tends to become increasingly twisted ahead of the replication fork as helicase moves along it.
Other enzymes called topoisomerases relieve this twisting and prevent the DNA from becoming tangled or breaking.
Once helicase has separated the strands, other replication machinery can use each exposed strand as a template to make a new complementary strand.
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