Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Cheng W
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4172460 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Cheng Wei W Arunajadai Srikesh G SG Moffitt Jeffrey R JR Tinoco Ignacio I Bustamante Carlos C
Science (New York, N.Y.) 20110901 6050
Nonhexameric helicases use adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to unzip base pairs in double-stranded nucleic acids (dsNAs). Studies have suggested that these helicases unzip dsNAs in single-base pair increments, consuming one ATP molecule per base pair, but direct evidence for this mechanism is lacking. We used optical tweezers to follow the unwinding of double-stranded RNA by the hepatitis C virus NS3 helicase. Single-base pair steps by NS3 were observed, along with nascent nucleotide release that wa ...[more]