Single-molecule studies of the replisome

Authors

Antoine M. van Oijen, Harvard Medical SchoolFollow
Joseph J. Loparo, Harvard Medical School

RIS ID

94208

Publication Details

van Oijen, A. M. & Loparo, J. J. (2010). Single-molecule studies of the replisome. Annual Review of Biophysics, 39 (1), 429-448.

Abstract

Replication of DNA is carried out by the replisome, a multiprotein complex responsible for the unwinding of parental DNA and the synthesis of DNA on each of the two DNA strands. The impressive speed and processivity with which the replisome duplicates DNA are a result of a set of tightly regulated interactions between the replication proteins. The transient nature of these protein interactions makes it challenging to study the dynamics of the replisome by ensemble-averaging techniques. This review describes single-molecule methods that allow the study of individual replication proteins and their functioning within the replisome. The ability to mechanically manipulate individual DNA molecules and record the dynamic behavior of the replisome while it duplicates DNA has led to an improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying DNA replication.