Oct ’26: Our PolA/PolD Manuscript is Published in Cell

October 28, 2026

Our manuscript titled Metazoan lagging-strand DNA synthesis is distributive has been published in Cell (available online now). You can also download the manuscript PDF here.

In this paper we revisit the textbook model of lagging strand synthesis in higher eukaryotes, also known as the trombone model. It has long been thought/assumed that the lagging strand polymerases PolA and PolD are stably tethered to the replisome, and that the same PolA/D molecule is repeatedly reused to synthesize many (hundreds) of Okazaki Fragments. In this study, Luke showed that neither PolA nor PolD are reused, and that each Okazaki fragment requires the recruitment of a new PolA and PolD molecule, challenging the widely-accepted trombone model. This work illustrates how directly visualizing the dynamics of key factors involved in genome maintenance helps overturn long-standing models in the field.

Congratulations to the first author – Luke Lynch (a graduate student in our lab who graduated with a PhD in the fall of 2025 and is now a postdoc in the Walter lab at Harvard Medical School) and to the second author – Jinho Park (a postdoc in our lab, who is now on the academic job market).

Permalink: https://chistol.stanford.edu/oct-26-our-pola-pold-manuscript-is-accepted-in-cell/