Practice question
Question
SMC proteins are involved in:
Explanation
Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes proteins represent large ATPase machines forming elongated coiled-coil dimers with hinge domain closing ring-like structures embracing DNA duplexes. Condensin complexes SMC2/SMC4 compact mitotic chromosomes via loop extrusion, cohesin SMC1/SMC3 holds sister chromatids together from S phase until anaphase cleavage by separase, SMC5/SMC6 aids homologous recombination repair at collapsed forks. Mutations produce chromosome missegregation, aneuploidy and repair defects. Proteins localize to scaffold attachment regions and utilize ATP hydrolysis to extrude loops organizing chromatin far beyond nucleosome scale into chromosome level maintenance.