scholarly journals Specific Binding of Integrase to the Origin of Transfer (oriT) of the Conjugative Transposon Tn916

2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (9) ◽  
pp. 2947-2951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Hinerfeld ◽  
Gordon Churchward

ABSTRACT Purified integrase protein (Int) of the conjugative transposon Tn916 was shown, using nuclease protection experiments, to bind specifically to a site within the origin of conjugal transfer of the transposon, oriT. A sequence similar to the ends of the transposon that are bound by the C-terminal DNA-binding domain of Int was present in the protected region. However, Int binding tooriT required both the N- and C-terminal DNA-binding domains of Int, and the pattern of nuclease protection differed from that observed when Int binds to the transposon ends and flanking DNA. Binding of Int to oriT may be part of a mechanism to prevent premature conjugal transfer of Tn916 prior to excision from the donor DNA.

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (a1) ◽  
pp. a203-a203
Author(s):  
Walter J. Chazin ◽  
Agnieszka M. Topolska-Woś ◽  
Norie Sugitani ◽  
John J. Cordoba ◽  
Hyun Suk Kim ◽  
...  

2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (11) ◽  
pp. 3499-3507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Xu ◽  
Baohua Gu ◽  
B. Tracy Nixon ◽  
Timothy R. Hoover

ABSTRACT Activators of σ54-RNA polymerase holoenzyme couple ATP hydrolysis to formation of an open complex between the promoter and RNA polymerase. These activators are modular, consisting of an N-terminal regulatory domain, a C-terminal DNA-binding domain, and a central activation domain belonging to the AAA+ superfamily of ATPases. The AAA+ domain of Sinorhizobium meliloti C4-dicarboxylic acid transport protein D (DctD) is sufficient to activate transcription. Deletion analysis of the 3′ end of dctD identified the minimal functional C-terminal boundary of the AAA+ domain of DctD as being located between Gly-381 and Ala-384. Histidine-tagged versions of the DctD AAA+ domain were purified and characterized. The DctD AAA+ domain was significantly more soluble than DctD( Δ 1-142), a truncated DctD protein consisting of the AAA+ and DNA-binding domains. In addition, the DctD AAA+ domain was more homogeneous than DctD( Δ 1-142) when analyzed by native gel electrophoresis, migrating predominantly as a single high-molecular-weight species, while DctD( Δ 1-142) displayed multiple species. The DctD AAA+ domain, but not DctD( Δ 1-142), formed a stable complex with σ54 in the presence of the ATP transition state analogue ADP-aluminum fluoride. The DctD AAA+ domain activated transcription in vitro, but many of the transcripts appeared to terminate prematurely, suggesting that the DctD AAA+ domain interfered with transcription elongation. Thus, the DNA-binding domain of DctD appears to have roles in controlling the oligomerization of the AAA+ domain and modulating interactions with σ54 in addition to its role in recognition of upstream activation sequences.


1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 792-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
S L Gregory ◽  
R D Kortschak ◽  
B Kalionis ◽  
R Saint

We reported the identification of a new family of DNA-binding proteins from our characterization of the dead ringer (dri) gene of Drosophila melanogaster. We show that dri encodes a nuclear protein that contains a sequence-specific DNA-binding domain that bears no similarity to known DNA-binding domains. A number of proteins were found to contain sequences homologous to this domain. Other proteins containing the conserved motif include yeast SWI1, two human retinoblastoma binding proteins, and other mammalian regulatory proteins. A mouse B-cell-specific regulator exhibits 75% identity with DRI over the 137-amino-acid DNA-binding domains of these proteins, indicating a high degree of conservation of this domain. Gel retardation and optimal binding site screens revealed that the in vitro sequence specificity of DRI is strikingly similar to that of many homeodomain proteins, although the sequence and predicted secondary structure do not resemble a homeodomain. The early general expression of dri and the similarity of DRI and homeodomain in vitro DNA-binding specificity compound the problem of understanding the in vivo specificity of action of these proteins. Maternally derived dri product is found throughout the embryo until germ band extension, when dri is expressed in a developmentally regulated set of tissues, including salivary gland ducts, parts of the gut, and a subset of neural cells. The discovery of this new, conserved DNA-binding domain offers an explanation for the regulatory activity of several important members of this class and predicts significant regulatory roles for the others.


1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 4247-4254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Krapp ◽  
Michel Strubin

ABSTRACT Eukaryotic transcriptional activators generally comprise both a DNA-binding domain that recognizes specific cis-regulatory elements in the target genes and an activation domain which is essential for transcriptional stimulation. Activation domains typically behave as structurally and functionally autonomous modules that retain their intrinsic activities when directed to a promoter by a variety of heterologous DNA-binding domains. Here we report that OBF-1, a B-cell-specific coactivator for transcription factor Oct-1, challenges this traditional view in that it contains an atypical activation domain that exhibits two unexpected functional properties when tested in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. First, OBF-1 by itself has essentially no intrinsic activation potential, yet it strongly synergizes with other activation domains such as VP16 and Gal4. Second, OBF-1 exerts its effect in association with DNA-bound Oct-1 but is inactive when attached to a heterologous DNA-binding domain. These findings suggest that activation by OBF-1 is not obtained by simple recruitment of the coactivator to the promoter but requires interaction with DNA-bound Oct-1 to stimulate a step distinct from those regulated by classical activation domains.


1996 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 611-621 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Rusin ◽  
A Niedziela-Majka ◽  
G Rymarczyk ◽  
A Ozyhar

Two members of the nuclear receptor superfamily, EcR and Ultraspiracle (Usp) heterodimerize to form a functional receptor for 20-hydroxyecdysone-the key ecdysteroid controlling induction and modulation of morphogenetic events through Drosophila development. In order to study aspects of receptor function and ultimately the structural basis of the ecdysteroid receptor-DNA interaction, it is necessary to produce large quantities of purified EcR and Usp DNA-binding domains. Toward this end, we have expressed the EcR DNA-binding domain and the Usp DNA-binding domain as proteins with an affinity tag consisting of six histidine residues (6xHis-EcRDBD and 6xHis-UspDBD, respectively) using the expression vector pQE-30. Under optimal conditions, elaborated in this study, bacteria can express the recombinant 6xHis-EcRDBD to the levels of 11% of total soluble proteins and the 6xHis-UspDBD to the levels of 16%. Both proteins were purified to homogeneity from the soluble protein fraction using combination of ammonium sulphate fractionation and affinity chromatography on Ni-NTA agarose. The gel mobility shift experiments demonstrated that the purified 6xHis-EcRDBD and the 6xHis-UspDBD interact specifically with an 20-hydroxyecdysone response element from the promoter region of the hsp 27 Drosophila gene.


1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 2252-2261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gene Cutler ◽  
Kathleen M. Perry ◽  
Robert Tjian

ABSTRACT Adf-1 is an essential Drosophila melanogastersequence-specific transactivator that binds the promoters of a diverse group of genes. We have performed a comprehensive mapping of the functional domains of Adf-1 to study the role of transactivators in the process of gene activation. Using a series of clustered point mutations and small deletions we have identified regions of Adf-1 required for DNA binding, dimerization, and activation. In contrast to most enhancer-binding factors, the Adf-1 activation regions are nonmodular and depend on an intact protein, including the Adf-1 DNA-binding domain, for activity. Like many transcriptional activators, Adf-1 contains a TFIID-binding domain that can interact with specific TAF subunits. Although TAFs are required for Adf-1-directed activation, TAF binding is not sufficient, suggesting that Adf-1 may direct multiple essential steps during activation. Interestingly, both the TAF-binding domain and the DNA-binding domain contain sequences homologous to those of the Myb family of DNA-binding domains. Thus, Adf-1 has evolved an unusual structure containing two versions of the Myb motif, one that binds DNA and one that binds proteins.


Author(s):  
M.J. Revington ◽  
W. Lee

The sequence-specific DNA binding function of many proteins is recognized as one of the central mechanisms of regulating transcription and DNA replication and repair. The ability of these proteins to select a short (usually 10 to 20 basepair) sequence out of the entire genome with which to form a stable complex is a prime example of molecular recognition. Atomic resolution structural studies using NMR and X-ray crystallography have emerged as essential techniques in understanding the basis of specificity and stability in these systems. While NMR studies of small DNA-binding domains of proteins have become almost routine (see Kaptein, 1993 for a review) relatively few NMR studies of protein-DNA complexes have been reported. These include the lac repressor headpiece complex (Chuprina et al., 1993). the Antennapedia homeodomain complex (Billetere et al., 1993), the GATA-1 complex (Omichinski et al., 1993). and the Myb DNA binding domain complex (Ogata et al., 1993); all of these complexes are smaller than 20 kDa. In most cases, size limitations have meant that only the DNA binding domain of the protein in complex with a single binding element have been studied. In vivo, however, most DNA binding proteins are much larger than these domains and often function as oligomers. The decrease in quality and increase in complexity of spectra as the molecular weight of the sample increases, limits the number of systems amenable to study using NMR and influences the decision to focus on single domains of multidomain proteins. However, since many DNA-binding proteins are regulated by the binding of ligands, other proteins or phosphorylation, often at sites distal from the DNA-binding domain, it is preferable to study as much of the intact protein as possible in order to characterize allosteric and regulatory mechanisms (Pabo and Sauer, 1992). E. coli trp repressor is a 25 kDa homodimer that regulates operons involved in tryptophan biosynthesis. The dimer is one of the smallest intact proteins that binds sequence specifically to DNA and whose affinity is modulated by an effector (L-tryptophan).


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nosipho Magnificat Cele

P53 is a tumour suppressor protein that is dysfunctional in most human cancer cells. Mutations in the p53 genes result in the expression of mutant proteins which accumulate to high levels in tumour cells. Several studies have shown that majority of the mutations are concentrated in the DNA-binding domain where they destabilize its conformation and eliminate the sequence- specific DNA-binding to abolish p53 transcription activities. Accordingly, this study involved an investigation of the effects of mutations associated with cancer, based on the framework of sequences and structures of p53 DNA-binding domains, analysed by SIFT, Pmut, I-mutant, MuStab, CUPSAT, EASY-MM and SDM servers. These analyses suggest that 156 mutations may be associated with cancer, and may result in protein malfunction, including the experimentally validated mutations. Thereafter, 54 mutations were further classified as disease- causing mutations and probably have a significant impact on the stability of the structure. The detailed stability analyses revealed that Val143Asp, Ala159Pro, Val197Pro, Tyr234Pro, Cys238Pro, Gly262Pro and Cys275Pro mutations caused the highest destabilization of the structure thus leading to malfunctioning of the protein. Additionally, the structural and functional consequences of the resulting highly destabilizing mutations were explored further using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations. Molecular docking results revealed that the p53 DNA-binding domain loses its stability and abrogates the specific DNA-binding as shown by a decrease in binding affinity characterized by the ZRANK scores. This result was confirmed by the residues Val143Asp, Ala159Pro, Val197Pro, Tyr234Pro and Cys238Pro p53-DNA mutant complexes inducing the loss of important hydrogen bonds, and introduced non-native hydrogen bonds between the two biomolecules. Furthermore, Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the experimental mutant forms showed that the structures of the p53 DNA-binding domains were more rigid comparing to the wild-type structure. The MD trajectories of Val134Ala, Arg213Gly and Gly245Ser DNA-binding domain mutants clearly revealed a loss of the flexibility and stability by the structures. This might affect the structural conformation and interfere with the interaction to DNA. Understanding the effects of mutations associated with cancer at a molecular level will be helpful in designing new therapeutics for cancer diseases.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 118 (21) ◽  
pp. 447-447
Author(s):  
Kimberly Cramer ◽  
Elisabeth Bolton ◽  
Margaret Nieborowska-Skorska ◽  
Sylwia Flis ◽  
Tomasz Skorski

Abstract Abstract 447 BCR-ABL1 transforms hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) into leukemia stem cells (LSCs) to induce chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase (CML-CP). We detected that the most primitive LSCs display elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and accumulate excessive numbers of potentially lethal DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). We also reported that BCR-ABL1-transformed cells exhibit enhanced RAD51-mediated homologous recombination repair (HRR) activity occurring in S and G2/M cell cycle phases. In normal cells initiation of RAD51-mediated HRR is directed either by BRCA1– or RAD52–dependent mechanisms. Since BCR-ABL1 kinase downregulated BRCA1, LSCs containing high number of DSBs should depend more on RAD52 to promote HRR to repair lethal DSBs. We found that in vivo leukemogenic potential of BCR-ABL1 –positive RAD52−/− hematopoietic cells is abrogated in comparison to their BCR-ABL1 -positive RAD52+/+ counterparts. The absence of RAD52 in BCR-ABL1 –positive cells reduced the percentage of Lin−Kit+Sca1+ cells by >2-fold and inhibited their clonogenic potential and proliferation by >10-fold. In addition RAD52 knockout caused approximately 2-fold reduction of Lin−Kit+Sca1+CD34−Flt3− long-term LSCs (LT-LSCs) and Lin−Kit+Sca1+CD34+Flt3− short-term LSCs (ST-LSCs). Conversely, 4-fold accumulation of BCR-ABL1 –positive RAD52−/− Lin−Kit+Sca1+eFluor670max quiescent cells was detected in comparison to BCR-ABL1 –positive RAD52+/+ counterparts. These effects were accompanied by 2-fold reduction of the percentage of BCR-ABL1 –positive RAD52−/− cells in S and G2/M and 7-fold increase of these cells in sub-G1 when compared to BCR-ABL1 –positive RAD52+/+ counterparts. BCR-ABL1-positive RAD52−/− Lin−Kit+Sca1+ cells accumulated more DSBs than BCR-ABL1 –positive RAD52+/+ cells. These differences were not observed between non-transformed RAD52−/− and RAD52+/+ cells. Expression of the wild-type RAD52 reduced the accumulation of lethal DSBs and rescued the clonogenic potential and proliferation of BCR-ABL1-positive RAD52−/− Lin−Kit+Sca1+ cells. Downregulation of ROS with antioxidants vitamin E (VE) and N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) exerted similar effect as restored expression of RAD52. Thus it appears that RAD52 is necessary to repair the extensive ROS-induced DSBs in LSC-enriched Lin−Kit+Sca1+ cells. BCR-ABL1 kinase does not affect the expression of RAD52 protein, but phosphorylates RAD52 on Y104. However, expression of RAD52(Y104F) phosphorylation-less mutant reduced the number of DSBs and rescued the clonogenic potential of BCR-ABL1-positive RAD52−/− Lin−Kit+Sca1+ cells in a similar way to the wild-type RAD52. Accordingly, RAD52-mediated DSB repair activity in CML-CP cells should not be affected by imatinib treatment. RAD52 mediates the annealing of complementarry DNA strands during DSB repair. To exert this function RAD52 has two DNA binding domains. Expression of RAD52(F79A) and RAD52(K102A) DNA binding-deficient mutants (each amino acid substitution inactivated different DNA binding domain) failed to prevent the accumulation of DSBs and did not rescue the clonogenic and proliferative potential of BCR-ABL1-positive RAD52−/− cells. In addition, RAD52(F79A), but not RAD52(Y104F) inhibited DSB repair by HRR. Therefore DNA binding capability of RAD52 appears essential for BCR-ABL1 –mediated leukemogenesis, but it is dispensable in normal hematopoietic cells. The “addiction” of BCR-ABL1 leukemia cells to RAD52 was confirmed by demonstration that RAD52(F79A) mutant inhibited clonogenic potential of CD34+ CML-CP cells, but not normal counterparts. Furthermore, to determine if RAD52 DNA binding domains could be targeted to selectively inhibit CML-CP, peptide aptamers containing RAD52 DNA binding domain amino acids sequence surrounding F79 were employed as potential decoys for RAD52 DNA binding. Aptamer containing F79, but not the A79 substitution, diminished the number of RAD52 foci and reduced the clonogenic potential and proliferation of CD34+ cells from CML-CP, but not from normal donors. In conclusion, we postulate that RAD52 is essential for BCR-ABL1 –mediated leukemogenesis and that DNA binding domains of RAD52 may be targeted for selective elimination of the proliferating CML-CP LSCs. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2007 ◽  
Vol 403 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Gillard ◽  
Stephane Goffinont ◽  
Corinne Buré ◽  
Marie Davidkova ◽  
Jean-Claude Maurizot ◽  
...  

Understanding the cellular effects of radiation-induced oxidation requires the unravelling of key molecular events, particularly damage to proteins with important cellular functions. The Escherichia coli lactose operon is a classical model of gene regulation systems. Its functional mechanism involves the specific binding of a protein, the repressor, to a specific DNA sequence, the operator. We have shown previously that upon irradiation with γ-rays in solution, the repressor loses its ability to bind the operator. Water radiolysis generates hydroxyl radicals (OH· radicals) which attack the protein. Damage of the repressor DNA-binding domain, called the headpiece, is most likely to be responsible of this loss of function. Using CD, fluorescence spectroscopy and a combination of proteolytic cleavage with MS, we have examined the state of the irradiated headpiece. CD measurements revealed a dose-dependent conformational change involving metastable intermediate states. Fluorescence measurements showed a gradual degradation of tyrosine residues. MS was used to count the number of oxidations in different regions of the headpiece and to narrow down the parts of the sequence bearing oxidized residues. By calculating the relative probabilities of reaction of each amino acid with OH· radicals, we can predict the most probable oxidation targets. By comparing the experimental results with the predictions we conclude that Tyr7, Tyr12, Tyr17, Met42 and Tyr47 are the most likely hotspots of oxidation. The loss of repressor function is thus correlated with chemical modifications and conformational changes of the headpiece.


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