Physical aspects of the structure and function of helicases as rotary molecular motors

摘要

Helicases were shown to have common physical properties with rotary molecular motors, such as F (0) F (1)-ATP synthase and type I restriction-modification (RM) enzymes. The necessary conditions for action of molecular motors are chirality, the presence of the C (2) (or lower) symmetry axis within rather large atomic groups, and polarization properties. The estimates were made for the material parameters of helicases, which translocate DNA due to moving chiral kinks without DNA cleavage and are characterized by higher viscosity, low mobility, and smaller chiral kinetic coefficients than type II RM enzymes. This paper discusses the efficiency of helicases with opposite polarities that drive DNA translocation in opposite directions.