Asymmetric removal of supercoils suggests how topoisomerase II simplifies DNA topology.

Journal article

Type-IIA topoisomerases consume ATP as they catalyse the interconversion of DNA topoisomers by transporting one DNA segment through a transient break in another. It remains unclear how their activity simplifies the topology of DNA below equilibrium values. Here we report that eukaryotic topoisomerase II narrows the thermal distribution of DNA supercoils, by mainly removing negative DNA crossings. Surprisingly, this asymmetry in supercoil removal is not due to deformation of the DNA before str...

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Authors: Trigueros, S; Salceda, J; Bermúdez, I; Fernández, X; Roca, J

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Journal of molecular biology
• Volume: 335
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 723-731
• Publication date: 2004-01-01
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2003.11.011
• EISSN: 1089-8638
• ISSN: 0022-2836
• Language: English
• Keywords: DNA; Temperature; Thermodynamics; DNA Topoisomerases, Type II; DNA Replication; Chromosome Segregation; Macromolecular Substances; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Nucleic Acid Conformation; DNA, Superhelical