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Related Concept Videos

Proofreading01:43

Proofreading

Overview
Proofreading01:31

Proofreading

Synthesis of new DNA molecules is carried out by the enzyme DNA polymerase, which adds nucleotides on the daughter strand complementary to the template DNA strand. DNA polymerase has a higher affinity to add the correct base and ensures fidelity during DNA replication. Furthermore,  it exhibits proofreading activity during replication, using an exonuclease domain that cuts off incorrect nucleotides from the nascent DNA strand.
Errors During Replication are Corrected by the DNA Polymerase Enzyme
Proofreading01:43

Proofreading

Overview
Improving Translational Accuracy02:07

Improving Translational Accuracy

Base complementarity between the three base pairs of mRNA codon and the tRNA anticodon is not a failsafe mechanism. Inaccuracies can range from a single mismatch to no correct base pairing at all. The free energy difference between the correct and nearly correct base pairs can be as small as 3 kcal/ mol. With complementarity being the only proofreading step, the estimated error frequency would be one wrong amino acid in every 100 amino acids incorporated. However, error frequencies observed in...
Improving Translational Accuracy02:07

Improving Translational Accuracy

Base complementarity between the three base pairs of mRNA codon and the tRNA anticodon is not a failsafe mechanism. Inaccuracies can range from a single mismatch to no correct base pairing at all. The free energy difference between the correct and nearly correct base pairs can be as small as 3 kcal/ mol. With complementarity being the only proofreading step, the estimated error frequency would be one wrong amino acid in every 100 amino acids incorporated. However, error frequencies observed in...
Genome Copying Errors02:46

Genome Copying Errors

DNA replication is a well-evolved process that copies millions of base pairs with high fidelity during each cell division. Occasionally a wrong base or a long stretch of wrong bases may get added to the daughter strands. If the errors are left unchecked, cells might accumulate several mutations that might endanger their  survival. Therefore, the copying errors are checked and repaired at three levels.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 20, 2026

Proofreading and DNA Repair Assay Using Single Nucleotide Extension and MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Analysis
11:08

Proofreading and DNA Repair Assay Using Single Nucleotide Extension and MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Analysis

Published on: June 19, 2018

Speed, dissipation, and error in kinetic proofreading.

Arvind Murugan1, David A Huse, Stanislas Leibler

  • 1Simons Center for Systems Biology, School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA. murugan@ias.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|July 13, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Proofreading mechanisms, like microtubule dynamics, can achieve faster reaction speeds with a novel kinetic regime. This speed-up involves a trade-off between efficiency and error rates in biochemical processes.

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Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Cell Biology
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Proofreading mechanisms enhance biochemical reaction specificity by dissociating intermediate complexes, albeit at the cost of time and energy.
  • Microtubule growth and shrinkage share characteristics with proofreading, involving complex dynamics and error correction principles.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the analogy between proofreading mechanisms and microtubule dynamics.
  • To identify new kinetic regimes in proofreading by relating chemical state cycling to physical growth and shrinkage statistics.

Main Methods:

  • Developed an analogy linking microtubule growth/shrinkage statistics to the chemical state cycling in proofreading.
  • Analyzed the kinetic regimes of proofreading based on this analogy.

Main Results:

  • Identified a new kinetic regime for proofreading offering exponential speed-up.
  • This regime presents a speed-error trade-off, analogous to microtubule growth transitions.
  • The regime is sharply defined in large proofreading networks.

Conclusions:

  • The newly discovered kinetic regime may be relevant to biological processes like tRNA charging, RecA filament assembly, and protein synthesis.
  • This finding offers a new perspective on optimizing speed and accuracy in biochemical proofreading systems.