| First Author | Fletcher RJ | Year | 2003 |
| Journal | Nat Struct Biol | Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 160-7 |
| PubMed ID | 12548282 | Mgi Jnum | J:82233 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:2651794 | Doi | 10.1038/nsb893 |
| Citation | Fletcher RJ, et al. (2003) The structure and function of MCM from archaeal M. Thermoautotrophicum. Nat Struct Biol 10(3):160-7 |
| abstractText | Eukaryotic chromosomal DNA is licensed for replication precisely once in each cell cycle. The mini-chromosome maintenance (MCM) complex plays a role in this replication licensing. We have determined the structure of a fragment of MCM from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum (mtMCM), a model system for eukaryotic MCM. The structure reveals a novel dodecameric architecture with a remarkably long central channel. The channel surface has an unusually high positive charge and binds DNA. We also show that the structure of the N-terminal fragment is conserved for all MCMs proteins despite highly divergent sequences, suggesting a common architecture for a similar task: gripping/remodeling DNA and regulating MCM activity. An mtMCM mutant protein equivalent to a yeast MCM5 (CDC46) protein with the bob1 mutation at its N terminus has only subtle structural changes, suggesting a Cdc7-bypass mechanism by Bob1 in yeast. Yeast bypass experiments using MCM5 mutant proteins support the hypothesis for the bypass mechanism. |
