DNA helicase from mammalian mitochondria.

In spite of the fact that a DNA helicase is clearly required for the predominantly leading-strand synthesis occurring during mammalian mtDNA replication, no such activity has heretofore been identified. We report the characterization of a mammalian mitochondrial DNA helicase isolated from bovine brain tissue. The sucrose gradient-purified mitochondria in which the activity was detected had less than 1 part in 2500 nuclear contamination according to Western blot analysis using nuclear- and mitochondrial-specific probes. Mitochondrial protein fractionation by DEAE-Sephacel chromatography yielded a DNA helicase activity dependent upon hydrolysis of ATP or dATP but not other NTPs or dNTPs. The mitochondrial helicase unwound 15- and 20-base oligonucleotides but was unable to unwind 32-base or longer oligonucleotides, and the polarity of the unwinding is 3'-to-5' with respect to the single-stranded portion of the partial duplex DNA substrate. This direction of unwinding would place the bovine mitochondrial helicase on the template strand ahead of DNA polymerase gamma during mtDNA replication, a situation analogous to that of the Rep helicase of Escherichia coli during leading-strand DNA synthesis of certain bacteriophages.