title: Mechanisms for initiating cellular DNA replication.
abstract: Cellular DNA replication factories depend on ring-shaped hexameric helicases to aid DNA synthesis by processively unzipping the parental DNA helix. Replicative helicases are loaded onto DNA by dedicated initiator, loader, and accessory proteins during the initiation of DNA replication in a tightly regulated, multistep process. We discuss here the molecular choreography of DNA replication initiation across the three domains of life, highlighting similarities and differences in the strategies used to deposit replicative helicases onto DNA and to melt the DNA helix in preparation for replisome assembly. Although initiators and loaders are phylogenetically related, the mechanisms they use for accomplishing similar tasks have diverged considerably and in an unpredictable manner.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. franziska.bleichert@fmi.ch mbotchan@berkeley.edu jmberger@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0014-770X
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bleichert
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. franziska.bleichert@fmi.ch mbotchan@berkeley.edu jmberger@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0459-5518
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Botchan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. franziska.bleichert@fmi.ch mbotchan@berkeley.edu jmberger@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: James M
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0666-1240
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Berger
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001419:Bacteria / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002477:Cells / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D004265:DNA Helicases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004261:DNA Replication; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019077:Helix-Turn-Helix Motifs; D010802:Phylogeny; D000072417:Protein Domains
chemical_list: D004265:DNA Helicases