On helicases and other motor proteins
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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Hybrid Ensemble and Single-molecule Assay to Image the Motion of Fully Reconstituted CMG
Published on: July 26, 2024
Eric J Enemark1, Leemor Joshua-Tor
1W.M. Keck Structural Biology Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, United States.
Abstract:
Helicases are molecular machines that utilize energy derived from ATP hydrolysis to move along nucleic acids and to separate base-paired nucleotides. The movement of the helicase can also be described as a stationary helicase that pumps nucleic acid. Recent structural data for the hexameric E1 helicase of papillomavirus in complex with single-stranded DNA and MgADP has provided a detailed atomic and mechanistic picture of its ATP-driven DNA translocation. The structural and mechanistic features of this helicase are compared with the hexameric helicase prototypes T7gp4 and SV40 T-antigen. The ATP-binding site architectures of these proteins are structurally similar to the sites of other prototypical ATP-driven motors such as F1-ATPase, suggesting related roles for the individual site residues in the ATPase activity.
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