Roles of the C-Terminal Amino Acids of Non-Hexameric Helicases: Insights from Escherichia coli UvrD.

ABSTRACT: Helicases are nucleic acid-unwinding enzymes that are involved in the maintenance of genome integrity. Several parts of the amino acid sequences of helicases are very similar, and these quite well-conserved amino acid sequences are termed "helicase motifs". Previous studies by X-ray crystallography and single-molecule measurements have suggested a common underlying mechanism for their function. These studies indicate the role of the helicase motifs in unwinding nucleic acids. In contrast, the sequence and length of the C-terminal amino acids of helicases are highly variable. In this paper, I review past and recent studies that proposed helicase mechanisms and studies that investigated the roles of the C-terminal amino acids on helicase and dimerization activities, primarily on the non-hexe

SUBMITTER: Yokota H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7864180 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature