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Figure 4 | Journal of Nanobiotechnology

Figure 4

From: Protein-polymer nano-machines. Towards synthetic control of biological processes

Figure 4

Motor activity of type I R-M Enzyme. (a) The yellow block represents the DNA-binding (recognition) site of the enzyme, which is represented by the green object approaching from the top of the diagram and about to dock onto the recognition sequence. (b) The motor is bound to the DNA at the recognition site and begins to attach to adjacent DNA sequences. (c) The motor begins to translocate the adjacent DNA sequences through the motor/DNA complex, which remains tightly bound to the recognition sequence. (d) Translocation produces an expanding loop of positively supercoiled DNA. The motor follows the helical thread of the DNA resulting in spinning of the DNA end (illustrated by the rotation of the yellow cube). (e) When translocation reaches the end of the linear DNA it stops, resets and then the process begins again.

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