Distinctive activities of dna polymerases during human dna replication

The contributions of human DNA polymerases (pols) alpha, delta and epsilon during S-phase progression were studied in order to elaborate how these enzymes co-ordinate their functions during nuclear DNA replication. Pol delta was three to four times more intensely UV cross-linked to nascent DNA in late compared with early S phase, whereas the cross-linking of pols alpha and epsilon remained nearly constant throughout the S phase. Consistently, the chromatin-bound fraction of pol delta, unlike pols alpha and epsilon, increased in the late S phase. Moreover, pol delta neutralizing antibodies inhibited replicative DNA synthesis most efficiently in late S-phase nuclei, whereas antibodies against pol epsilon were most potent in early S phase. Ultrastructural localization of the pols by immuno-electron microscopy revealed pol epsilon to localize predominantly to ring-shaped clusters at electron-dense regions of the nucleus, whereas pol delta was mainly dispersed on fibrous structures. Pol alpha and proliferating cell nuclear antigen displayed partial colocalization with pol delta and epsilon, despite the very limited colocalization of the latter two pols. These data are consistent with models where pols delta and epsilon pursue their functions at least partly independently during DNA replication

Anatomy of a DNA replication fork revealed by reconstitution of SV40 DNA replication in vitro

Complete enzymatic replication of DNA from the simian virus 40 origin has been reconstituted with T antigen and highly purified cellular proteins. DNA polymerase-alpha/primase functions primarily to synthesize RNA-DNA primers for initiation of DNA replication at the origin and for priming each Okazaki fragment. A polymerase switching mechanism requiring replication factor C and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen allows two molecules of DNA polymerase-delta to replicate both strands of the double helix conjointly