Structures of the clamp loader–clamp complex reveal that nature uses machined parts in the form of a spiral scaffold (the clamp loader) to thread a circlet (the clamp) on a helix of DNA. The scaffold ...

Scientists have discovered that a protein once thought to simply help load a factor necessary for the copying of DNA, actually plays a key role in ensuring fast and reliable replication—an insight ...

Humans and baker's yeast have more in common than meets the eye, including an important mechanism that helps ensure DNA is copied correctly, reports a pair of studies. The findings visualize for the ...

The DNA damage response is essential for maintaining genome integrity. When DNA damage or replication stress occurs, a checkpoint signaling pathway is activated to arrest the cell cycle and initiate ...

The clamp then closes and signals to the polymerases that they can begin replicating DNA. Using high-powered cryo-electron microscopes, Li, O'Donnell and their teams revealed previously unknown facets ...

Though scientists have learned much about DNA damage and repair over the past 50 years, important outstanding questions remain. One particularly bedeviling puzzle is how a repair protein called the ...

DNA replication is a complex process with many moving parts. In baker's yeast, the molecular complex Ctf18-RFC keeps parts of the replication machinery from falling off the DNA strand. Human cells use ...