- DNA clamp unloading
The process of removing the PCNA complex from DNA when Okazaki fragments are completed or the replication fork terminates.
- 5'-flap endonuclease activity
Catalysis of the cleavage of a 5' flap structure in DNA, but not other DNA structures; processes the 5' ends of Okazaki fragments in lagging strand DNA synthesis.
- 3'-flap endonuclease activity
Catalysis of the cleavage of a 3' flap structure in DNA, but not other DNA structures; processes the 3' ends of Okazaki fragments in lagging strand DNA synthesis.
- flap endonuclease activity
Catalysis of the cleavage of a flap structure in DNA, but not other DNA structures; processes the ends of Okazaki fragments in lagging strand DNA synthesis.
- DNA replication, removal of RNA primer
Removal of the Okazaki RNA primer from the lagging strand of replicating DNA, by a combination of the actions of DNA polymerase, DNA helicase and an endonuclease.
- DNA replication, Okazaki fragment processing
The DNA metabolic process, occurring during lagging strand synthesis, by which RNA primers are removed from Okazaki fragments, the resulting gaps filled by DNA polymerization, and the ends ligated to form a continuous strand.
- PCNA complex
A protein complex composed of three identical PCNA monomers, each comprising two similar domains, which are joined in a head-to-tail arrangement to form a homotrimer. Forms a ring-like structure in solution, with a central hole sufficiently large to accommodate the double helix of DNA. Originally characterized as a DNA sliding clamp for replicative DNA polymerases and as an essential component of the replisome, and has also been shown to be involved in other processes including Okazaki fragment processing, DNA repair, translesion DNA synthesis, DNA methylation, chromatin remodeling and cell cycle regulation.
- lagging strand elongation
The process in which an existing DNA strand is extended in a net 3' to 5' direction by activities including the addition of nucleotides to the 3' end of the strand, complementary to an existing template, as part of DNA replication. Lagging strand DNA elongation proceeds by discontinuous synthesis of short stretches of DNA, known as Okazaki fragments, from RNA primers; these fragments are then joined by DNA ligase. Although each segment of nascent DNA is synthesized in the 5' to 3' direction, the overall direction of lagging strand synthesis is 3' to 5', mirroring the progress of the replication fork.