Understanding and exploiting the role of type II DNA topoisomerases in DNA replication and recombination

DNA topoisomerases perform vital roles in all organisms, regulating DNA topology (supercoiling, catenation, knotting), during replication, recombination and transcription. These enzymes have also emerged as valuable drug targets for both antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs. Professor Maxwell will use structural, biochemical and biophysical approaches to further investigate the role of DNA topoisomerases in DNA replication and recombination, and to understand how the DNA cleavage/religation reaction is regulated in relation to cellular function. He will address long-standing questions in the field, such as the role of ATP hydrolysis in type II topoisomerase reactions, how type II topoisomerases carry out illegitimate replication, and the physiological role of topoisomerase VI in DNA replication.