DNA Replication: An Annotated Bibliography
1.Baker, T. A. Replication arrest. Cell. 80:521-524; 1995, February 24.
This brief article reviews different ways of halting DNA replication. DNA synthesis occurs at chromosomal replication forks. The enzymes involved typically replicate DNA at a rate of about 1,000 base pairs per second. Thus, there must be ways of stopping the process. Replication termination systems generally consist of protein-DNA complexes. Various termination proteins make contact with the DNA at specific sites. These complexes specifically inhibit DNA helicases (i.e., the proteins responsible for replication fork movement). Such termination machinery ultimately represents a mechanism by which DNA replication can be controlled after initiation.
2.Blow, J. J. Preventing re-replication of DNA in a single cell cycle: Evidence for a replication licensing factor. The Journal of Cell Biology. 122:993-1002; 1993, September.
This 10-page paper describes an investigation into a possible DNA replication licensing factor. It notes that Xenopus egg extracts which have been treated with the protein kinase inhibitor, 6-dimethylaminopurine, do not exhibit DNA replication initiation. Moreover, a specific protein thought to be a replication factor is rendered nonfunctional by the treatments. This factor normally becomes rapidly activated on exit from metaphase. Then, before the nuclear envelope has been completely formed (i.e., early G1), it may modify chromatin. The protein's inactivation and the subsequent arrest of replication therefore suggests that it is actually a Replication Licensing Factor.
3.Hamlin, J. L.; Mosca, P. J.; Levenson (Chernokhvostov), V. V. Defining origins of replication in mammalian cells. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1198:85-111; 1994.
This rather large 27-page document focuses on the cell cycle's S period. It notes that this period can be characterized as a highl...