DNA topoisomerases and their functions in a cell

Abstract

DNA-topoisomerases are sophisticated enzymes that control the DNA topology in a cell. A wealth of new data concerning the structure and functions of topoisomerases was published recently. The review discusses the basic features of different types of topoisomerases with respect to the catalytic mechanism and focuses on the involvement of topoisomerases in various DNA-related cell processes, such as replication, transcription, recombination, chromatin condensation, and daughter chromatid partitioning. © 2012 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.