Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026

Examination of Proteins Bound to Nascent DNA in Mammalian Cells Using BrdU-ChIP-Slot-Western Technique
Published on: January 14, 2016
Dynamics of the HP1β-PCNA-containing complexes in DNA replication and repair
Dominika O Trembecka-Lucas1, Aleksander T Szczurek, Jurek W Dobrucki
1Division of Cell Biophysics, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
Abstract:
Heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1), a small non-histone chromosomal protein, was recently shown to form a complex in vivo with Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA), a key factor in DNA replication. The complex, which requires HP1β in a form of a dimer, is engaged in DNA repair and replication. We now provide further evidence based on FRET-FLIM live cell studies confirming the association and close proximity between HP1β and PCNA in the complex. We also demonstrate using FRAP, that although HP1β-PCNA complexes are highly mobile in nonreplicating nuclei, when engaged in DNA replication, they become bound and do not exchange with the mobile pool. These observations are in agreement with a notion that a subpopulation of HP1 molecules interact with PCNA in vivo during DNA replication. Similarly, HP1β which is associated with PCNA in regions of DNA repair, is bound and does not exchange with the mobile pool, suggesting that HP1β in association with PCNA may be a component of a DNA repair complex.
Related Concept Videos
Restarting Stalled Replication Forks
Homologous Recombination
DNA Helicases
The Replisome
The synthesis of the leading and lagging strands is a highly coordinated process. To explain this, the “Trombone model” was proposed by Bruce Alberts in 1980. The DNA loop formation starts when a primer is synthesized on the parent lagging strand. The loop grows with the...
The Replisome
The synthesis of the leading and lagging strands is a highly coordinated process. To explain this, the “Trombone model” was proposed by Bruce Alberts in 1980. The DNA loop formation starts when a primer is synthesized on the parent lagging strand. The loop grows with the...
DNA Damage can Stall the Cell Cycle

