Leicester: A team of scientists at the University of Leicester have captured how cells begin the crucial process of copying their genetic material that may help in treating certain viruses and cancers by specifying their replication process.
Under the study the researchers captured the first detailed “molecular movie” showing DNA being unzipped at the atomic level – revealing how cells begin the crucial process of copying their genetic material and is stated to have far-reaching implications, helping us to understand how certain viruses and cancers replicate.
The researchers found that rather than working by brute force as previously assumed, the helicase operates through an elegant mechanism that uses cellular fuel (ATP) as a precise trigger.
It functions like a six-piston molecular engine – each piston “fires” in sequence, driving the machine forward along the DNA. Crucially, instead of pushing the strands apart directly, it releases built-up tension – like letting go of a compressed spring – allowing the DNA to unwind naturally, the release stated.
“We recorded multiple snapshots showing how this molecular motor methodically separates the DNA double helix. It’s like a molecular-scale zipper in action and while scientists have long known that cells need to unzip their DNA to copy it, we have never before been able to see exactly how this happens,” said, Dr Taha Shahid, the lead author of the paper.
“Now we can watch the entire process unfold, in a moment-by-moment fashion, revealing the precise mechanics of one of life’s most fundamental processes,” Dr Shahid added.
To study the DNA scientists used edge cryo-electron microscopy, which enabled them to visualise a helicase enzyme (nature’s DNA unzipping machine) in the process of unwinding DNA.
As per the researchers, DNA helicases are essential during DNA replication because they separate double-stranded DNA into single strands, allowing each strand to be copied.
“By combining structural biology with sophisticated computational methods, we’ve been able to reveal not just what this molecular machine looks like, but how it works,” Dr Alfredo De Biasio, senior author on the paper, said.
The research was an international collaboration between the University of Leicester and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, which provided core funding and The Midlands Regional Cryo-EM Facility at the Leicester Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology (LISCB), provided the infrastructure for the work.
