Monomeric ZRANB3 drives replication fork reversal.

Monomeric ZRANB3 is sufficient to drive replication fork reversal by binding fork DNA at the junction and coordinating duplex opening, annealing, and branch migration.

• Why it matters: Replication fork reversal is a key response to replication stress, but the way an SNF2 translocase coordinates the required mechanical steps has been unclear.
• What they did: Using biochemical, biophysical, and single-molecule fluorescence approaches, the study shows ZRANB3 binds as a monomer at the fork junction and performs ATP-dependent localized duplex opening plus ATP-independent strand annealing to form four-way junctions, then migrates branches directionally.
• The result: Single-molecule fluorescence analyses demonstrate that monomeric ZRANB3 alone can drive fork reversal, defining how one enzyme integrates multiple DNA remodeling activities to catalyze the reaction.

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