Automated mapping of DNA replication fork progression in human cells with ForkML

Nature Communications 2026 Open access

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Authors: Victoria Rojat, Diletta Ciardo, Alan Tourancheau, Florence Proux, Étienne Jean, Jean-Michel Arbona, Benjamin Audit, Gael A. Millot, Frédéric Bonhomme, Paola B. Arimondo, Olivier Hyrien, Benoît Le Tallec
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-68750-4
Cited by: 3
References: 32

Abstract

Current approaches to mapping fork progression in the human genome suffer from drastically low throughput. Here, we introduce ForkML, a nanopore sequencing-based method automatically positioning thousands of individual fork velocities by tracking BrdU incorporation into replicating DNA after double pulse-labelling of asynchronous cells. ForkML recovers known human fork speed, accurately detects replication stress, and, crucially, connects replication dynamics to genomic and chromatin contexts, exposing fork slowdown in early-replicating transcribed regions.

Fields of Study & Subjects

DNA Repair Mechanisms CRISPR and Genetic Engineering Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques

Publication details

Journal / source
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume
17
Issue
1
Publication date
23 January 2026
Language
EN