The Minichromosome Maintenance Replicative Helicase
- 1Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Department, Biology Department, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405
- 2Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720
- Correspondence: stedbell{at}indiana.edu; mbotchan{at}uclink.berkeley.edu
Abstract
The eukaryotic replicative helicase, the minichromosome maintenance (MCM) complex, is composed of six distinct, but related, subunits MCM(2–7). The relationship between the sequences of the subunits indicates that they are derived from a common ancestor and indeed, present-day archaea possess a homohexameric MCM. Recent progress in the biochemical and structural studies of both eukaryal and archaeal MCM complexes are beginning to shed light on the mechanisms of action of this key component of the replisome.
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