HELQ & Hel308: ancient enzymes of DNA repair and recombination.

Authors

Anna Lou-Hing, Olivia Downs, Thorsten Allers, Edward L Bolt

Published in

Biochemical Society transactions. Volume 54. Issue 10. Pages 1375-1385. Oct 28, 2026.

Abstract

We highlight the multifunctionality of the Hel308 and HELQ Ski2-like 'helicases' as they toggle between DNA annealing and DNA translocation across multiple DNA repair pathways. Defects in Hel308/HELQ cause genetic instability, including dysregulated homologous recombination. New data reveal how Hel308 and HELQ switch between DNA translocation and annealing, a mechanism that may restrain recombination to short tracts by curbing extensive DNA synthesis. We describe a PWI-like innovation in HELQ that evolved in bilaterian animals-absent from other animals and archaea-which we propose is an ATR-targeted phosphoregulatory module, coordinating protein interactions and, through those, DNA repair-recombination reactions. The overall picture is of Hel308 and HELQ as ancient DNA annealing enzymes, aided by short bursts of ATP-powered DNA translocation, kept in balance by molecular switches and the additional regulatory surfaces that arose in some animals.

PMID:
42806713
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 29 Sep 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.