Cryptic 3' mRNA processing signals hinder the expression of Schistosoma mansoni integrins in yeast.

The expression of parasite genes has often proven difficult in heterologous systems such as yeast or E. coli. Most often, promoter choice and codon usage were hypothesised to be the main reason for expression failures.

DNA induces conformational changes in a recombinant human minichromosome maintenance complex.

ATP-dependent DNA unwinding activity has been demonstrated for recombinant archaeal homohexameric minichromosome maintenance (MCM) complexes and their yeast heterohexameric counterparts, but in higher eukaryotes such as Drosophila, MCM-associated DNA helicase activity has been observed only in the context of a co-purified Cdc45-MCM-GINS complex. Here, we describe the production of the recombinant human MCM (hMCM) complex in Escherichia coli. This protein displays ATP hydrolysis activity and is capable of unwinding duplex DNA.