{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Singh A"],"funding":["S.S.P.","Latin American Fellow in Biomedical Sciences","NIH HHS"],"pagination":["gkag008"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12820530"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["54(2)"],"pubmed_abstract":["Twinkle is the sole replicative helicase in human mitochondria, essential for mitochondrial DNA replication. Beyond its canonical unwinding activity, Twinkle has non-canonical activities, including DNA annealing and strand-exchange. Here, we show that these non-canonical activities extend to RNA. Twinkle binds RNA and catalyzes RNA:DNA hybrid formation through annealing, strand-exchange, and toehold-mediated strand displacement. Twinkle can unwind RNA:DNA forks when loaded onto the DNA tail but not the RNA tail. Although the physiological role of these RNA-related activities remains unclear, we show that Twinkle can strand-exchange an RNA downstream of a stalled replication fork to restart replication. The annealing/strand-exchange activity can be involved in DNA replication initiation and"],"journal":["Nucleic acids research"],"pubmed_title":["Human mitochondrial helicase Twinkle has RNA binding, annealing, and strand-exchange activities."],"pmcid":["PMC12820530"],"funding_grant_id":["R01GM145925","R35GM118086"],"pubmed_authors":["Yin YW","Singh A","Johnson LC","Baruch-Torres N","Patel SS"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Human mitochondrial helicase Twinkle has RNA binding, annealing, and strand-exchange activities.","description":"Twinkle is the sole replicative helicase in human mitochondria, essential for mitochondrial DNA replication. Beyond its canonical unwinding activity, Twinkle has non-canonical activities, including DNA annealing and strand-exchange. Here, we show that these non-canonical activities extend to RNA. Twinkle binds RNA and catalyzes RNA:DNA hybrid formation through annealing, strand-exchange, and toehold-mediated strand displacement. Twinkle can unwind RNA:DNA forks when loaded onto the DNA tail but not the RNA tail. Although the physiological role of these RNA-related activities remains unclear, we show that Twinkle can strand-exchange an RNA downstream of a stalled replication fork to restart replication. The annealing/strand-exchange activity can be involved in DNA replication initiation and","dates":{"release":"2026-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2026 Jan","modification":"2026-06-06T21:37:01.565Z","creation":"2026-06-05T03:11:33.5Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC12820530","cross_references":{"pubmed":["41562253"],"doi":["10.1093/nar/gkag008"]}}