Headed by Christian Speck, the DNA Replication Group was established in 2006 with the aim of discovering new mechanisms in the initiation and elongation of DNA replication and understanding the function of replication factors in hetero-chromatin formation and epigenetic memory.
Group News
VACANCY: LMS 3.5-year Studentship
Project Title: Development of high throughput assay for screening of novel DNA replication inhibitors for therapeutic purposes Supervisors: Professor Christian... read more
New paper on the molecular mechanism in the licensing of eukaryotic replication origins
Feng, X., Noguchi, Y., Barbon, M., Stillman, B., Speck, C., Li, H. (2021). The structure of ORC-Cdc6 on an... read more
New Talos F200i microscope
The Institute got a brand new Thermo Scientific™ Talos™ F200i S/TEM microscope and said goodbye to the Philips CM200. ... read more
Josh Tomkins joins the Group
Josh Tomkins joined the Group as a PhD student. Welcome Josh! read more
Marina Ivanova and Lepakshi Ranjha join the Group
Marina Ivanova and Lepakshi Ranjha joined the Group as postdoctoral fellows. A big welcome to both! read more
New paper on the structural mechanism of helicase loading
Yuan, Z., Schneider, S., Dodd, T., Riera, A., Bai, L., Yan, C., Magdalou, I., Ivanov, I., Stillman, B., Li,... read more
Group awarded BBSRC project grant
The Group's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) grant application was successful! Huge congratulations to Sarah Schneider, Almutasem... read more
Data collected using new Titan Krios cryo-TEM
First data collected using the London Consortium for cryo-EM's (LonCEM's) new Titan Krios Cryo Transmission Electron Microscope with the... read more
Shenaz Allyjaun and Jessica Ellins join the Group
Shenaz Allyjaun and Jessica Ellins join the Group as PhD students. Welcome Shenaz and Jessica! read more
Joseph Dobbs joins the Group
Joseph Dobbs, a BSc student in Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Victoria, Canada, joins the Group as... read more
Greta Baltušytė joins the Group
Greta Baltušytė, a bachelor's student in the Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK, joins the Group as... read more
Halil Bounoua joins the Group
Halil Bounoua, a biology student at biology at ENS Lyon, France, joins the Group as an undergraduate intern. Bienvenue... read more
Group Milestones
2020
Insights into the structural mechanism of helicase loading onto replication origin DNA by ORC-Cdc6
2017
Cryo-EM structure of Mcm2-7 double hexamer on DNA suggests a lagging-strand DNA extrusion model
Nature Structure & Molecular Biology 24, 316-324
Elucidation of the structural basis of MCM2-7 replicative helicase loading by ORC-Cdc6 and Cdt1
2014
Elucidation of the MCM2-7 double-hexamer structure reveals key mechanism in helicase loading and activation
Genes & Development 28, 1653-1666
Identification of the DNA entry gate of the MCM2-7 helicase during helicase loading
2013
Characterisation of the first structure of an eukaryotic replicative helicase in complex with its loading factors
Molecular Cell 50, 577-588
Identification of a novel ATPase-dependent pre-RC intermediate that is surveyed by a quality control mechanism for genomic stability
Nucleic Acids Research 41, 3162-3172
Discovery of a pre-RC intermediate that forms in the absence of ATP-hydrolysis and contains one copy of all 18 pre-RC factors
2009
Reconstitution of pre-RC formation and discovery of the MCM2-7 double hexamer as a central DNA replication intermediate
2007
Identification of an ATPase-dependent mechanism that allows sequence specific recognition of the DNA replication origin
2005
Elucidation of the ORC-Cdc6 complex structure and its sequence specific origin binding activity
2001
Identification of key mechanism in initiation of DNA replication in bacteria
1999
Discovery of an ATP dependent mechanism to coordinate initiation of DNA replication with transcriptional regulation in bacteria