AAA+ ATPases: some assembly required (instructions not included)

AAA+ family ATPases play key roles in cellular events ranging from vesicle trafficking and proteolysis to chromatin remodeling and DNA replication/repair. A large subset of these enzymes form multimeric rings or spirals that respond to cycles of ATP binding and hydrolysis by undergoing changes in oligomeric and/or conformational state, and then transducing these physical rearrangements onto target macromolecules for controlling key biological processes. New structural and biochemical findings pertaining to how AAA+ ATPases and their accessory factors operate during the initiation of DNA replication and DNA transposition will be discussed.