Purification and characterization of the DNA untwisting enzyme from rat liver.

The DNA untwisting enzyme has been purified approximately 300-fold from rat liver nuclei. The protein is greater than 90% pure as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate-acrylamide gel electrophoresis. The native enzyme has a molecular weight between 64 000 and 68 000 and is composed of a single polypeptide chain. Evidence is presented that the protein can act catalytically. A trace amount of endonuclease activity associated with the most pure fraction could be a contaminant or it could be due to the action of the DNA untwisting enzyme itself.