使用dsDNA桥梁逐步自组装DNA格子

Two structural features of the DNA molecule provide a basis for the mechanisms of heredity: the four nucleotide bases and its double-stranded nature. The Watson-Crick model of double-helical DNA structure, proposed in 1952, drew heavily upon the X-ray crystallography work of researchers Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in 1962. Franklin was, controversially, excluded from the prize for...

During replication, the complementary strands in double-stranded DNA are synthesized at different rates. Replication first begins on the leading strand. Replication starts later, occurs more slowly, and proceeds discontinuously on the lagging strand.
There are several major differences between synthesis of the leading strand and synthesis of the lagging strand. 1) Leading strand synthesis happens in the direction of replication fork opening, whereas lagging strand synthesis happens in the...

DNA replication is carried out by a large complex of proteins that act in a coordinated matter to achieve high-fidelity DNA replication. Together this complex is known as the DNA replication machinery or 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...

For successful DNA replication, the unwinding of double-stranded DNA must be accompanied by stabilization and protection of the separated single strands of the DNA. This crucial task is performed by single-strand DNA-binding (SSB) proteins. They bind to the DNA in a sequence-independent manner, which means that the nitrogenous bases of the DNA need not be present in a specific order for binding of SSB proteins to it. The binding of SSB proteins straightens single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and makes...