Entrapment of DNA in an intersubunit tunnel system of a single-stranded DNA-binding protein

Ghalei, Homa; Moeller, Holger von; Eppers, Detlef; Sohmen, Daniel; Wilson, Daniel N.; Loll, Bernhard und Wahl, Markus C. (2014): Entrapment of DNA in an intersubunit tunnel system of a single-stranded DNA-binding protein. In: Nucleic Acids Research, Bd. 42, Nr. 10: S. 6698-6708

Abstract

Instead of a classical single-stranded deoxyribonuleic acid (DNA)-binding protein (SSB),some hyperthermophilic crenarchaea harbor a non-canonical SSB termed ThermoDBP. Two related but poorly characterized groups of proteins, which share the ThermoDBP N-terminal DNA-binding domain, have a broader phylogenetic distribution and co-exist with ThermoDBPs and/or other SSBs. We have investigated the nucleic acid binding properties and crystal structures of representatives of these groups of ThermoDBP-related proteins (ThermoDBP-RPs) 1 and 2. ThermoDBP-RP 1 and 2 oligomerize by different mechanisms and only ThermoDBP-RP2 exhibits strong single-stranded DNA affinity in vitro. A crystal structure of ThermoDBP-RP2 in complex with DNA reveals how the NTD common to ThermoDBPs and ThermoDBP-RPs can contact the nucleic acid in a manner that allows a symmetric homotetrameric protein complex to bind single-stranded DNA molecules asymmetrically. While single-stranded DNA wraps around the surface or binds along channels of previously investigated SSBs, it traverses an internal, intersubunit tunnel system of a ThermoDBP-RP2 tetramer. Our results indicate that some archaea have acquired special SSBs for genome maintenance in particularly challenging environments.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Chemie und Pharmazie > Department Biochemie
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 540 Chemie
• ISSN: 0305-1048
• Sprache: Englisch