What is "topoisomerase"

n. (context enzyme English) Any of several enzymes that effect the topology of DNA, especially ones that relax supercoiling

Topoisomerases are enzymes that regulate the overwinding or underwinding of DNA. The winding problem of DNA arises due to the intertwined nature of its double-helical structure. During DNA replication and transcription, DNA becomes overwound ahead of a replication fork. If left unabated, this torsion would eventually stop the ability of RNA & DNA polymerase involved in these processes to continue down the DNA strand.

In order to prevent and correct these types of topological problems caused by the double helix, topoisomerases bind to either single-stranded or double-stranded DNA and cut the phosphate backbone of the DNA. This intermediate break allows the DNA to be untangled or unwound, and, at the end of these processes, the DNA backbone is resealed again. Since the overall chemical composition and connectivity of the DNA do not change, the tangled and untangled DNAs are chemical isomers, differing only in their global topology, thus their name. Topoisomerases are isomerase enzymes that act on the topology of DNA.

Bacterial topoisomerase and human topoisomerase proceed via the same mechanism for replication and transcription.