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The Endogenous Mus81-Eme1 Complex Resolves Holliday Junctions by a Nick and Counternick Mechanism
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The Endogenous Mus81-Eme1 Complex Resolves Holliday Junctions by a Nick and Counternick Mechanism

Pierre-Henri L Gaillard, Eishi Noguchi, Paul Shanahan and Paul Russell
Molecular cell, v 12(3), pp 747-759
01 Sep 2003
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1097-2765(03)00342-3
PMID: 14527419
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1097-2765(03)00342-3View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Functional studies strongly suggest that the Mus81-Eme1 complex resolves Holliday junctions (HJs) in fission yeast, but in vitro it preferentially cleaves flexible three-way branched structures that model replication forks or 3′ flaps. Here we report that a nicked HJ is the preferred substrate of endogenous and recombinant Mus81-Eme1. Cleavage occurs specifically on the strand that opposes the nick, resulting in resolution of the structure into linear duplex products. Resolving cuts made by the endogenous Mus81-Eme1 complex on an intact HJ are quasi-simultaneous, indicating that Mus81-Eme1 resolves HJs by a nick and counternick mechanism, with a large rate enhancement of the second cut arising from the flexible nature of the nicked HJ intermediate. Recombinant Mus81-Eme1 is ineffective at making the first cut. We also report that HJs accumulate in a DNA polymerase α mutant that lacks Mus81, providing further evidence that the Mus81-Eme1 complex targets HJs in vivo.

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146 citations in Web of Science
146 citations in Scopus

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Web of Science research areas
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Cell Biology
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