New mechanism helps cells prevent DNA replication errors
An international team from the University of Zurich and CNIO reports a discovery in Nature this week about how cohesin safeguards genetic information during cell division.
Cohesin acts as a molecular anchor
Researchers found that the protein cohesin functions as an anchor to reorganize newly replicated DNA. This action prevents potentially harmful errors when the replication process encounters problems. The protein holds meters of DNA inside the cell nucleus in order.
Function preserved across evolution
Cohesin proteins show remarkable similarities between organisms as distant as fungi and humans. This function has been preserved throughout evolutionary history for essential roles in division. Until now, scientists mainly knew the protein held sister chromatids together.
Discovery published in Nature
The study appears in the journal Nature this week according to the report. Millions of cells divide every second in tissues like bone marrow and skin. This constant motion depends on the molecular machinery responsible for copying DNA units.
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