Human body contains ~ 75 x 10E12 (trillion) cells most have a nucleus surrounded by cytoplasm.

. Each nucleus a set of 46 chromosomes made up of chromatin.

DNA Replication
(Basic Molecular Biology & Pharmacology Block)
Dr. Saidi Jaafar
Craniofacial Science & Oral Biology School of Dental Sciences Universiti Sains Malaysia
Phone: +609+609-766 3668; Room: TT-3-36 Email: saidi@kb.usm.my March, 2009

Within chromatin consists of extremely long strand of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA nuclear DNA). Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) DNA located in the mitochondria & represent only a small fraction of total DNA in cells (size of mtDNA = 16,500 bp; contains of 37 genes) Gene a hereditary unit consisting of a sequence of DNA that occupies a specific location on a chromosome & determine particular characteristic of an organism. How many genes in one cell? 35,000 genes present in each set of chromosomes.

The chemical nature of DNA

Proposed by James Watson & Francis Crick in 1953 - Nucleic acid consists of a chain of nucleotides linked together through an alternating series of sugar (2(2deoxyribose) & phosphate residues with nitrogenous bases.

DNA & the double helix

In a single strand the phosphate of one nucleotide bond to the sugar of another creating a backbone of sugars DNA strand has a free free sugar on one end (the 3 end) & a free free phosphate on the opposite end (the 5 5 end) Simple molecule (a nucleotide) composed of just 4 types of subunits i.e. a phosphate group, 55carbon sugar (deoxyribose) deoxyribose) & a nitrogennitrogen-containing base. 2 DNA strands form a double helix by the formation of hydrogen bonds between the nitrogenous bases. The paired strands are described as being complementary

Phosphate

Sugar

Base

The bases come in 2 types: the singlesingleringed pyrimidines & the doubledoubleringed purines
Purines Adenine (A) Guanine (G) Pyrimidines Thymine (T) Cytosine (C)

Cell cycle, mitosis & DNA replication

Cell division (in eukaryotes, mitosis) a process by which a cell (parent cell) divides into two or more cells (daughter cells) Cell division (mitotic phase) is actually only a small segment of a larger cell cycle Interphase preparation of cell for division (cell grow by producing proteins & cytoplasmic organelles) Cell grows (G1), continues to grow as it duplicates its chromosomes (S), grows more & prepare for mitosis (G2) and then divides (M) When a cell divides, it must replicate the DNA in its genome so that the daughter cells have the same genetic information as their parent cell

A pair of complementary bases e.g. A&T or G&C is referred to as a base pair (bp ) (bp) 1000 bp = 1 kb; 1000 kb = 1 Mb 1 DNA strand runs in a 5 5 to 3 3 direction & its complementary strand runs in a 3 3 to 5 5 If one strand reads 5 5 TGCA 3 & the other will read 3 3 ACGT 5 Therefore, they are said to be antiparallel DNA sequence is a succession of letters representing the primary structure of a real DNA strand / sequences of nucleotides Sense & antisense DNA sequence?

DNA replication: the key to constancy

Molecular mechanisms of DNA replication

Topoisomerase is an enzyme that alter the supercoilling of double stranded (ds)DNA by transiently cutting one or both strand of DNA

The sequence of bases in 1 DNA strand of the double helix accurately predicts the sequence of bases in the complimentary strand. A chromosome can be replicated by separating the 2 DNA strands & synthesizing new strands using nucleotides with base complimentary to the parental strand. Each new chromosome would then consist of 1 parental strand & 1 complimentary daughter strand.

1. Unzipping the parental DNA strand At localised sites of replication (DNA forks), an enzyme known as helicase unwind the DNA double helix The result is that the 2 DNA strands separated exposing their bases These separated parental strands will then act as templates for the synthesis of complimentary daughter strands by DNA polymerase

DNA primase is an enzyme that catalyse the synthesis of the short RNA primers on single stranded (ss)DNA during the synthesis of the Okazaki fragments

2. Synthesizing complimentary DNA strand Replication proceeds in the 5 to 3 direction with new nucleotides being attached to the 3. On leading strand the DNA synthesis is formed continuously moving in the direction of the fork. On lagging strand is formed in 100-1000 nucleotide blocks (Okazaki fragments) that is initiated using an RNA primer & these fragments are joined together by a ligase (semi-discontinuous).

3. Stitching together the pieces DNA polymerase bonds together the sugars & phosphates of the free complementary nucleotides to form a chain of DNA. By the completion of DNA synthesis, each chromosome has divided into two chromatids consisting of 1 original parent strand & 1 new complimentary strand. This pattern of replication one parent strand is retained in each daughter cell is described as semi-conservative.

Proofreading The speed of DNA replication is about 50 500 nucleotides per second. Cellular proofreading & error-checking mechanisms ensure near perfect fidelity for DNA replication. This error-correcting processes is ensured by DNA polymerases that have proofreading ability (3 to 5 exonuclease activity) In mammalian cells, the completed DNA strands contain only about one mistake for every billion base pairs.

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