# Cryo-EM high performance data storage

> **NIH NIH R35** · VAN ANDEL RESEARCH INSTITUTE · 2020 · $100,000

## Abstract

Project Summary
It is generally thought that DNA replication evolved twice, independently in Bacteria and in Archaea/Eukarya,
because the principal components of the replication machinery (such as the replicative helicase and the DNA
polymerases) are not evolutionarily related in the two branches of life. In mammals, chromosome replication
error, or insufficient correction of a replication error, is a major cause of cancers. Initiation of DNA replication
occurs in G1 phase of the cell cycle, when the replication initiator Cdc6 binds and activates the origin
recognition complex (ORC) to recruit Cdt1-bound Mcm2-7 hexamer, thereby assembling an inactive Mcm2-7
double hexamer on double-stranded DNA. The molecular mechanism of this multistep initiation process is not
well understood. During G1-to-S transition, the Mcm2-7 double hexamer is converted to two active replicative
helicases, the Cdc45-Mcm2-7-GINS (CMG) complexes. To synthesize DNA, the primases and polymerases
and over a dozen additional protein factors assemble around the CMG helicase to form the replisome
progression complex (RPC). Because of its sheer size and dynamic nature, very little is known about the
eukaryotic replisome architecture. However, recent advances in cryo-EM methodology, along with the most
recent and spectacular success in in vitro reconstitutions of origin activation, the leading strand and the lagging
strand DNA synthesis, have made it feasible to tackle these challenges. Over the past decade, we have
collaborated with experts in eukaryotic DNA replication to determine atomic models of several replication
complexes, including the OCCM, which is an ORC-Cdc6-Cdt1-Mcm2-7 loading intermediate on DNA; the
Mcm2-7 double-hexamer on DNA; and the CMG helicase on a forked DNA. We have shown that the leading
strand polymerase epsilon binds to the C-tier motor ring, whereas the Pol alpha-primase is recruited by Ctf4 to
the N-tier ring side of the CMG helicase. Therefore, the two polymerases ride on opposite sides of the
helicase, resulting in a profoundly asymmetric replisome architecture. Building on these successes, the PI
proposes to continue the collaborative and mechanistic study of replication origin activation and replisome
architecture. The proposed research is significant because replication is central to cellular growth and because
dysregulation of replication can lead to uncontrolled proliferation and tumorigenesis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10123308
- **Project number:** 3R35GM131754-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** VAN ANDEL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Huilin Li
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $100,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-06-07 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10123308

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10123308, Cryo-EM high performance data storage (3R35GM131754-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10123308. Licensed CC0.

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