Enzymatic Processes in Deoxyribonucleic Acid Dynamics
Summary
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) dynamics are governed by a coordinated ensemble of enzymes that synthesise, remodel, repair and regulate the genome. DNA polymerases assemble nucleotides into new strands, guided by template pairing and enhanced by intrinsic proofreading exonuclease activities that excise misincorporated bases to ensure high fidelity. Helicases translocate along the duplex to unwind the helix, creating single-stranded templates for replication, repair or recombination complexes. Ligases reseal nicks and join Okazaki fragments, while topoisomerases alleviate torsional stress by transiently cleaving and rejoining the phosphodiester backbone. Nucleases trim or remove damaged regions, enabling excision repair pathways, and specialised kinases regulate enzyme activity and nucleotide pools through phosphorylation. Together, these processes maintain genomic integrity during cell division, orchestrate responses to DNA damage, and facilitate genetic recombination. Advances in mechanistic biochemistry, structural biology and enzyme engineering are driving applications in diagnostics, synthetic biology and therapeutic genome editing, with global relevance from precision medicine to sustainable biomanufacturing.
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Enzymatic Processes in Deoxyribonucleic Acid Dynamics publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in enzymatic processes in deoxyribonucleic acid dynamics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
dNTP (deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate): The four activated nucleotide substrates (dATP, dTTP, dCTP, dGTP) incorporated by polymerases during DNA synthesis.
DNA polymerase: An enzyme that catalyses the addition of nucleotides to a growing DNA strand using a complementary template.
Exonuclease: An enzyme that removes nucleotides from the ends of DNA, often providing proofreading or processing of DNA termini.
Helicase: An ATP-dependent enzyme that unwinds the DNA double helix to provide single-stranded templates for replication and repair.
Ligase: An enzyme that seals nicks in the DNA backbone by forming phosphodiester bonds, essential for strand completion and repair.
Topoisomerase: An enzyme that relieves or introduces supercoils in DNA by transiently cleaving the backbone and then rejoining it.
References
- Biocatalytic synthesis of 2′‐deoxynucleotide 5′‐triphosphates from bacterial genomic DNA: Proof of principle. Biotechnology and Bioengineering (2023).
- Optimization of single strand DNA incorporation reaction by Moloney murine leukaemia virus reverse transcriptase. DNA Research (2018).
- Enzymatic Synthesis of Deoxyribonucleic Acid XXXVI. A PROOFREADING FUNCTION FOR THE 3′ → 5′ EXONUCLEASE ACTIVITY IN DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID POLYMERASES. Journal of Biological Chemistry (1972).
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