Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Look Ma, no PCNA: how DNA polymerase ε synthesizes long stretches of DNA without a processivity factor

The long-awaited crystal structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA polymerase ε reveals a unique domain never before observed in B-family DNA polymerases. This novel domain endows polymerase ε with a capacity for highly processive DNA synthesis.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Comparison of polymerase ε and polymerase δ structural domains and bound DNA.
Figure 2: Close-up view of the P domain and metal-binding region.

Accession codes

Accessions

Protein Data Bank

References

  1. Johansson, E. & Macneill, S.A. Trends Biochem. Sci. 35, 339–347 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Miyabe, I., Kunkel, T.A. & Carr, A.M. PLoS Genet. 7, e1002407 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Hogg, M. et al. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 21, 49–55 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Swan, M.K., Johnson, R.E., Prakash, L., Prakash, S. & Aggarwal, A.K. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 16, 979–986 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Baranovskiy, A.G. et al. Cell Cycle 7, 3026–3036 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Steitz, T.A. J. Biol. Chem. 274, 17395–17398 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Church, D.N. et al. Hum. Mol. Genet. 22, 2820–2828 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Perera, R.L. et al. eLife 2, e00482 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Pavlov, Y.I. et al. Curr. Biol. 16, 202–207 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Jain, R. et al. J. Mol. Biol. doi:10.1016/j.jmb.2013.10.015 (19 October 2013).

  11. Netz, D.J. et al. Nat. Chem. Biol. 8, 125–132 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Wolski, S.C., Kuper, J. & Kisker, C. Biol. Chem. 391, 761–765 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Li, V., Hogg, M. & Reha-Krantz, L.J. J. Mol. Biol. 400, 295–308 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Hogg, M., Aller, P., Konigsberg, W., Wallace, S.S. & Doublié, S. J. Biol. Chem. 282, 1432–1444 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Work in the authors' laboratory was supported by US National Institutes of Health grant R01 CA052040.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sylvie Doublié.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zahn, K., Doublié, S. Look Ma, no PCNA: how DNA polymerase ε synthesizes long stretches of DNA without a processivity factor. Nat Struct Mol Biol 21, 12–14 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2749

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2749

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing