Journal
MICROBIOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY REVIEWS
Volume 68, Issue 1, Pages 109-+Publisher
AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
DOI: 10.1128/MMBR.68.1.109-131.2004
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- NIGMS NIH HHS [R01 GM059321, R01 GM59321] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The minichromosome maintenance (or MCM) protein family is composed of six related proteins that are conserved in all eukatyotes. They were first identified by genetic screens in yeast and subsequently analyzed in other experimental systems using molecular and biochemical methods. Early data led to the identification of MCMs as central players in the initiation of DNA replication. More recent studies have shown that MCM proteins also function in replication elongation, probably as a DNA helicase. This is consistent with structural analysis showing that the proteins interact together in a heterohexameric ling. However, MCMs are strikingly abundant and far exceed the stoichiometry of replication origins; they are widely distributed on unreplicated chromatin. Analysis of mcm mutant phenotypes and interactions with other factors have now implicated the MCM proteins in other chromosome transactions including damage response, transcription, and chromatin structure. These experiments indicate that the MCMs are central players in many aspects of genome stability.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available