The ORC4 antibody targets the fourth subunit of the Origin Recognition Complex (ORC), a critical protein complex involved in initiating DNA replication in eukaryotic cells. Discovered in yeast, the ORC (comprising ORC1-6) binds to replication origins during the G1 phase of the cell cycle, serving as a scaffold to recruit CDC6. Cdt1. and the MCM complex, which together assemble the pre-replicative complex. ORC4. an ATPase, plays a key role in stabilizing ORC binding to DNA and coordinating replication licensing.
ORC4 antibodies are essential tools for studying DNA replication mechanisms, cell cycle regulation, and chromatin dynamics. They are widely used in techniques like Western blotting, immunofluorescence, and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) to detect ORC4 expression, localization, and interactions. Research has linked ORC4 dysfunction to diseases, including Meier-Gorlin syndrome (a primordial dwarfism disorder) and cancers marked by replication stress.
These antibodies are available as monoclonal or polyclonal forms, often validated for specificity in model organisms like humans, mice, and yeast. Recent studies also explore ORC4's role in epigenetic silencing and heterochromatin formation. As DNA replication fidelity is crucial for genomic stability, ORC4 antibodies remain pivotal in both basic research and clinical investigations of replication-related pathologies.