Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Helicases: a unifying structural theme?

L E Bird1, H S Subramanya, D B Wigley

  • 1Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, UK.

Current Opinion in Structural Biology
|March 31, 1998
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Biological and genomic characterization of a cypovirus isolated from golden muga silkworm, Antheraea assamensis Helfer (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae).

Journal of invertebrate pathology·2025
Same author

Some data quality issues at ClinicalTrials.gov.

Trials·2019
Same author

Role of Lys-226 in the catalytic mechanism of Bacillus stearothermophilus serine hydroxymethyltransferase--crystal structure and kinetic studies.

Biochemistry·2005
Same author

Dysobinin, a tetranortriterpenoid.

Acta crystallographica. Section C, Crystal structure communications·2004
Same author

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rv2118c codes for a single-component homotetrameric m1A58 tRNA methyltransferase.

Nucleic acids research·2004
Same author

Structure-function relationship in serine hydroxymethyltransferase.

Biochimica et biophysica acta·2003
Same journal

Progress toward linking single-molecule behavior and condensate material properties.

Current opinion in structural biology·2026
Same journal

Tomogram exploration through template matching and deep learning.

Current opinion in structural biology·2026
Same journal

A comparative review of cryo-electron ptychography: Biological applications and future perspectives.

Current opinion in structural biology·2026
Same journal

Metabolic disruptions through a three-dimensional genomic lens.

Current opinion in structural biology·2026
Same journal

Collective variable design for biomolecular conformational dynamics.

Current opinion in structural biology·2026
Same journal

Polymer scaling in protein crowding: From dilute coils to semidilute meshes.

Current opinion in structural biology·2026
See all related articles

Recent studies reveal common structural features across various DNA and RNA helicases, suggesting a unified mechanism for these essential enzymes. This finding advances our understanding of helicase function and evolution.

Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Structural Biology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Helicases are crucial enzymes that unwind nucleic acid duplexes.
  • Diverse helicases play vital roles in DNA replication, repair, and RNA metabolism.
  • Previous studies have focused on individual helicase families, with limited comparative analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate potential unifying structural and mechanistic principles among different helicase superfamilies.
  • To integrate structural, sequence, biochemical, and microscopy data for a comprehensive understanding of helicase function.

Main Methods:

  • X-ray crystallography for determining the three-dimensional structures of PcrA, NS3, and Rep helicases.
  • Sequence analysis to identify conserved motifs and evolutionary relationships.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Biochemical assays to assess helicase activity and mechanism.
  • Electron microscopy to study the quaternary structure of hexameric helicases.

    • Main Results:

    • Comparative analysis of PcrA, NS3, and Rep helicase structures revealed conserved fold similarities.
    • Sequence and biochemical data support a common mechanistic basis for nucleic acid unwinding.
    • Microscopy studies indicated structural commonalities in hexameric helicase complexes.

    Conclusions:

    • A unifying structural framework and mechanistic model are emerging for the diverse helicase superfamily.
    • These findings have implications for understanding fundamental biological processes and for drug development targeting helicases.