In vitro and in vivo, the yeast Pif1 helicase is able to unwind four-stranded G-quadruplex (G4) DNA efficiently and suppress the genomic instability that occurs at such structures; these G4 maintenance activities are conserved among evolutionarily diverse Pif1 family helicases, including human PIF1, demonstrating the importance of this activity throughout evolution.
- Katrin Paeschke
- Matthew L. Bochman
- Virginia A. Zakian
