DNA primase large subunit is an
enzyme
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...
that in humans is encoded by the ''PRIM2''
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...
.
The replication of DNA in
eukaryotic cells
Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bact ...
is carried out by a complex chromosomal replication apparatus, in which
DNA polymerase alpha and
primase
DNA primase is an enzyme involved in the replication of DNA and is a type of RNA polymerase. Primase catalyzes the synthesis of a short RNA (or DNA in some
living organisms) segment called a primer complementary to a ssDNA (single-stranded ...
are two key enzymatic components. Primase, which is a
heterodimer
In biochemistry, a protein dimer is a macromolecular complex formed by two protein monomers, or single proteins, which are usually non-covalently bound. Many macromolecules, such as proteins or nucleic acids, form dimers. The word ''dimer'' ha ...
of a small subunit and a large subunit, synthesizes small RNA primers for the
Okazaki fragments
Okazaki fragments are short sequences of DNA nucleotides (approximately 150 to 200 base pairs long in eukaryotes) which are synthesized discontinuously and later linked together by the enzyme DNA ligase to create the lagging strand during DNA ...
made during discontinuous DNA replication. The protein encoded by this gene is the large, 58 kDa primase subunit.
References
Further reading
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External links
PDBe-KBprovides an overview of all the structure information available in the PDB for Human DNA primase large subunit (PRIM2)
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