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A rethink about enzymes that drive DNA replication

It has long been thought that two enzymes, the kinases CDC7 and CDK2, are both needed to trigger DNA replication in mammalian cells. This view is challenged by evidence that offers a revised view of which kinases are essential.
  1. Masato T. Kanemaki

    1. Masato T. Kanemaki is in the Department of Chromosome Science, National Institute of Genetics, Research Organization of Information and Systems, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan, and at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Shizuoka.

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If you read the scientific literature about DNA replication, you will find that two complexes, each containing an enzyme called a kinase and a regulatory protein, are involved in the initiation of this process. Writing in Nature, Suski et al.1 provide evidence of the need for a re-evaluation of the kinases involved.

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Nature 605, 228-229 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01128-w

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 05 May 2022: The original version of this News & Views incorrectly said that the enzymes CDK1 and CDC7 phosphorylate certain lysine amino-acid residues in subunits of the MCM2-7 helicase enzyme. This has been corrected.

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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