DNA polymerase: structural homology, conformational dynamics, and the effects of carcinogenic DNA adducts.

ABSTRACT: DNA replication is vital for an organism to proliferate and lying at the heart of this process is the enzyme DNA polymerase. Most DNA polymerases have a similar three dimensional fold, akin to a human right hand, despite differences in sequence homology. This structural homology would predict a relatively unvarying mechanism for DNA synthesis yet various polymerases exhibit markedly different properties on similar substrates, indicative of each type of polymerase being prescribed to a specific role in DNA replication. Several key conformational steps, discrete states, and structural moieties have been identified that contribute to the array of properties the polymerases exhibit. The ability of carcinogenic adducts to interfere with conformational processes by directly interacting with the

SUBMITTER: Federley RG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2933918 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature