This paper identifies two structural elements in HELB essential for its interaction with RPA-coated ssDNA, showing how they facilitate RPA displacement and DNA loop formation.

bioRxiv · Jul 17, 2026 · PreprintBiochemistry

OT-Curtains: an approach for studying protein interactions with DNA-ends using optical tweezers and confocal fluorescence microscopy

Sara de Bragança, Clara Aicart-Ramos, Ángel Rivera-Calzada, Raquel Arribas-Bosacoma, Mark Simon Dillingham, Óscar Llorca, Fernando Moreno‐Herrero

OT-Curtains enables real-time observation of DNA-end interactions using optical tweezers and microscopy, demonstrating applications in DNA repair and telomere biology.

Nucleic Acids Research · Apr 10, 2026Peer-reviewedBiophysics

Mechanism of DNA entrapment by the MukBEF SMC complex and its inhibition by a viral DNA mimic

Frank Bürmann, Bryony RJ Clifton, Sophie Koekemoer, Oliver J. Wilkinson, Dari Kimanius, Mark Simon Dillingham, Jan Löwe

The paper investigates how the bacterial SMC complex MukBEF loads DNA and how a viral protein inhibits this process through DNA mimicry.

Cell · Apr 2, 2025Peer-reviewedMolecular Biology

Baculovirus-vectored precision delivery of large DNA cargoes in human genomes

Francesco Aulicino, Martin Pelosse, Christine Toelzer, Julien Capin, Erwin Ilegems, Parisa Meysami, Ruth Rollarson, Per‐Olof Berggren, Mark Simon Dillingham, Christiane Schaffitzel, Moin Ahson Saleem, Gavin Iain Welsh, Imre Berger

This paper develops a baculovirus-based system for delivering large DNA cargoes for CRISPR-based genome editing in human cells, achieving up to 30% correct interventions.

Nucleic Acids Research · Jul 8, 2022Peer-reviewedSynthetic Biology

Human HELB is a processive motor protein which catalyses RPA clearance from single-stranded DNA

Silvia Hormeño, Oliver J. Wilkinson, Clara Aicart-Ramos, Sahiti Kuppa, Edwin Antony, Mark Simon Dillingham, Fernando Moreno‐Herrero

This study characterizes human HELB as a monomeric helicase that binds ssDNA, hydrolyzes ATP, and clears RPA from ssDNA through translocation.

bioRxiv · May 27, 2021 · PreprintMolecular Biology

ParB dynamics and the critical role of the CTD in DNA condensation unveiled by combined force-fluorescence measurements

Julene Madariaga-Marcos, César L. Pastrana, Gemma L. M. Fisher, Mark Simon Dillingham, Fernando Moreno‐Herrero

The paper uses force-fluorescence measurements to show that the CTD of ParB blocks network formation by heterodimerizing with DNA-bound ParB.

eLife · Mar 22, 2019Peer-reviewedMolecular Biology