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Structure of the gene 2.5 protein, a single-stranded DNA binding protein encoded by bacteriophage T7
Abstract
The gene 2.5 protein (gp2.5) of bacteriophage T7 is a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein that has essential roles in DNA replication and recombination. In addition to binding DNA, gp2.5 physically interacts with T7 DNA polymerase and T7 primase-helicase during replication to coordinate events at the replication fork. We have determined a 1.9-A crystal structure of gp2.5 and show that it has a conserved OB-fold (oligosaccharide/oligonucleotide binding fold) that is well adapted for interactions with ssDNA. Superposition of the OB-folds of gp2.5 and other ssDNA binding proteins reveals a conserved patch of aromatic residues that stack against the bases of ssDNA in the other crystal structures, suggesting that gp2.5 binds to ssDNA in a similar manner. An acidic C-terminal extension of the gp2.5 protein, which is required for dimer formation and for interactions with the T7 DNA polymerase and the primase-helicase, appears to be flexible and may act as a switch that modulates the DNA binding affinity of gp2.5.
... Among the SSBs, T7 gp2.5, the SSB pr otein fr om the T7 bacteriophage replisome, has a relati v ely small molecular size ( ∼25 kDa) and has a monomer binding mode to ss-DNA ( 7 ). Yet, it features many structural and mechanisticpathway similarities with higher organisms and thus, it represents an ideal model protein to elucidate the molecular regulation mechanism. ...
... Single-molecule filming of T7 gp2.5 binding to ssDNA T7 gp2.5 is a multifunctional protein with an oligonucleotide binding fold (OB-fold) and a fle xib le C-terminal tail ( 7 ), which serve as the ssDNA binding pocket and facilitate interactions with other protein partners during DNA metabolism, respecti v ely. Since no structure of T7 gp2.5 in complex with ssDNA is currently available, we aligned the known structure of T7 gp2.5 with that of the Enc34 SSB, which has been solved in complex with ssDNA (PDB ID: 5odl). ...
... When a significant fraction of the ssDNA template was coated with T7 gp2.5, we observed a reduction in contour length with negligible alterations in persistence length or str etch modulus (Figur e 2 A, B). A shortening of approximately 0.6 nm per bound protein aligns with the model proposed by Hollis et al. ( 7 ), which suggests T7 gp2.5 stacks nucleotide bases between the aromatic residues present in the OB-fold. These observations support the hypothesis that T7 gp2.5 shortens ssDNA by bending it. ...
Bacteriophage T7 single-stranded DNA-binding protein (gp2.5) binds to and protects transiently exposed regions of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) while dynamically interacting with other proteins of the repli-cation complex. We directly visualize fluorescently labelled T7 gp2.5 binding to ssDNA at the single-molecule level. Upon binding, T7 gp2.5 reduces the contour length of ssDNA b y stac king nuc leotides in a f or ce-dependent manner, suggesting T7 gp2.5 suppresses the formation of secondary structure. Next, we investigate the binding dynamics of T7 gp2.5 and a deletion mutant lacking 21 C-terminal residues (gp2.5-21C) under various template tensions. Our results show that the base sequence of the DNA molecule, ssDNA conformation induced by template tension, and the acidic terminal domain from T7 gp2.5 significantly impact on the DNA binding parameters of T7 gp2.5. Moreover, we uncover a unique template-catalyzed recycling behaviour of T7 gp2.5, resulting in an apparent cooperative binding to ss-DNA, facilitating efficient spatial redistribution of T7 gp2.5 during the synthesis of successive Okazaki fragments. Overall, our findings reveal an efficient binding mechanism that prevents the formation of secondary structures by enabling T7 gp2.5 to rapidly rebind to nearby exposed ssDNA regions, during lagging strand DNA synthesis.
... Crystal structures of several viral SSBs have been determined, including gene 32 protein (gp32) from bacteriophage T4 (5), gene 2.5 protein (gp2.5) from bacteriophage T7 (6) and ICP8 from herpes simplex virus type 1 (7). Although these investigated SSBs show divergent structural characters and function in different oligomeric states, they contain at least one oligonucleotide/oligosaccharidebinding (OB) fold to interact with single-stranded DNA (ss-DNA). ...
... The positively charged groove appears to bind the phosphate backbone while a set of six stacked bases face the central channel ( Figure 4C). Each HaLEF-3 subunit interacts with six nucleotides: dA (1) dA (2) dA (3) dA (4) dA (5) dA (6) (dA nucleotides are numbered in parentheses), in agreement with our EMSA data (above). Base-stacking interactions between dA (3) and dA (4) are disrupted by hydrophobic interactions between the base of dA (3) and the phenol group of Y311 ( Figure 4C, D), which divides the six nucleotides into two groups [dA (1) dA (2) dA (3) and dA (4) dA (5) dA (6) ] and each forms continuous base stacking with the nucleotides associated with the adjacent HaLEF-3 subunits. ...
... Each HaLEF-3 subunit interacts with six nucleotides: dA (1) dA (2) dA (3) dA (4) dA (5) dA (6) (dA nucleotides are numbered in parentheses), in agreement with our EMSA data (above). Base-stacking interactions between dA (3) and dA (4) are disrupted by hydrophobic interactions between the base of dA (3) and the phenol group of Y311 ( Figure 4C, D), which divides the six nucleotides into two groups [dA (1) dA (2) dA (3) and dA (4) dA (5) dA (6) ] and each forms continuous base stacking with the nucleotides associated with the adjacent HaLEF-3 subunits. Y311A mutants showed similar binding to dA 60 but decreased binding to dA 30 , compared with wild-type HaLEF-3 ( Figure 5A), suggesting that disruption of base-stacking interactions by Y311 may be compensated for by other molecular forces between HaLEF-3 and long ssDNA fragments. ...
Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (SSBs) interact with single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) to form filamentous structures with various degrees of cooperativity, as a result of intermolecular interactions between neighboring SSB subunits on ssDNA. However, it is still challenging to perform structural studies on SSB–ssDNA filaments at high resolution using the most studied SSB models, largely due to the intrinsic flexibility of these nucleoprotein complexes. In this study, HaLEF-3, an SSB protein from Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus, was used for in vitro assembly of SSB–ssDNA filaments, which were structurally studied at atomic resolution using cryo-electron microscopy. Combined with the crystal structure of ssDNA-free HaLEF-3 octamers, our results revealed that the three-dimensional rearrangement of HaLEF-3 induced by an internal hinge-bending movement is essential for the formation of helical SSB–ssDNA complexes, while the contacting interface between adjacent HaLEF-3 subunits remains basically intact. We proposed a local cooperative SSB–ssDNA binding model, in which, triggered by exposure to oligonucleotides, HaLEF-3 molecules undergo ring-to-helix transition to initiate continuous SSB–SSB interactions along ssDNA. Unique structural features revealed by the assembly of HaLEF-3 on ssDNA suggest that HaLEF-3 may represent a new class of SSB.
... Although structures of all four T7 replisome components have been known for some time [17][18][19] , crystal structures of T7 replisome complexes have been difficult to obtain, likely due to multiple transient protein interactions. We recently determined a low resolution crystal structure of the electrostatic interaction between a heptameric gp4 ring and three copies of gp5/trx in the absence of DNA 20 . ...
... To obtain structural data of complexes between gp2.5 single-stranded DNA binding protein and gp5/trx, we mixed the proteins together in the presence of DNA and monitored complex formation using SEC-SAXS-MALS 39 . Gp2.5 loaded on a dT15 ssDNA is predicted to be dimeric in solution 18 , with a mass of ~55 kDa. MALS and SAXS data agree with a gp2.5 dimer in solution (Figure 7 and Table 3), and the slightly larger masses observed for gp2.5 can be explained by flexible C-terminal acidic tails present for both gp2.5 monomers ( Figure 7D). ...
... MALS and SAXS data agree with a gp2.5 dimer in solution (Figure 7 and Table 3), and the slightly larger masses observed for gp2.5 can be explained by flexible C-terminal acidic tails present for both gp2.5 monomers ( Figure 7D). The C-terminal tails of gp2.5 had to be removed to obtain a high-resolution crystal structure 18 , and our SAXS data show the unfolded character of these tails in solution. Our SEC-SAXS-MALS data also show that gp5/trx alone on DNA is monomeric in solution, and the gp5/trx SAXS scattering profile match well with crystal structures of gp5/trx loaded on DNA ( Figures 7C and 7D) 17 . ...
Recent structural studies on the bacteriophage T7 DNA replication system have shed light on how multiple proteins assemble to copy two antiparallel DNA strands. In T7, acidic C-terminal tails of both the primase-helicase and single-stranded DNA binding protein bind to two basic patches on the DNA polymerase to aid in replisome assembly, processivity, and coordinated DNA synthesis. Although these electrostatic interactions are essential for DNA replication, the molecular details for how these tails bind the polymerase are unknown. We have determined an X-ray crystal structure of the T7 DNA polymerase bound to both a primer/template DNA and a peptide that mimics the C-terminal tail of the primase-helicase. The structure reveals that the essential C-terminal phenylalanine of the tail binds to a hydrophobic pocket that is surrounded by positive charge on the surface of the polymerase. We show that alterations of polymerase residues that engage the tail lead to defects in viral replication. In the structure we also observe dTTP bound in the exonuclease active site and stacked against tryptophan 160. Using both primer/extension assays and high throughput sequencing, we show how mutations in the exonuclease active site lead to defects in mismatch repair and an increase in mutagenesis of the T7 genome. Finally, using small angle X-ray scattering we provide the first solution structures of a complex between the single-stranded DNA binding protein and the DNA polymerase and show how a single-stranded DNA binding protein dimer engages both one and two copies of DNA polymerase.
... The relative simplicity of the replication system of phage T7 offers advantages for the study of molecular interactions that occur during DNA replication. Thus, the limited number of proteins has made possible: (i) the determination of their crystal structures [60][61][62][63][64][65], (ii) reconstitution of a replisome that mediates coordinated DNA synthesis [66], and (iii) visualization of active replisomes by single-molecule techniques [67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76]. ...
... Gp2.5 also plays a role in recombination [149,158,159], and in the repair of double-stranded breaks in phage DNA [160]. The crystal structure of gp2.5 [65] presented in Fig. 9 reveals that the core of the protein adopts an oligosaccharide/oligonucleotidebinding fold (OB-fold), the structural feature common in proteins that function by binding to ssDNA [161,162]. Interestingly, despite structural and functional resemblance between T7 gp2.5 and other ssDNA-binding proteins, for instance E. coli SSB protein and T4 gene 32 protein, the above proteins lack any significant amino-acid sequence homology [163]. ...
... Although the protein construct used for structure determination lacked the C-terminal 26 residues, it crystallized with two protomers in the crystallographic asymmetric unit in the trans orientation. It is believed that the protein arrangement in the crystal reflects the native gp2.5 dimer in solution [65]. The binding geometry of protomers, and specifically the orientation of the adjoining residues, suggests an extended conformation of the C-terminal tail. ...
The replication system of bacteriophage T7 is remarkable in that the 40,000 nucleotide genome is replicated over 100-fold in a matter of minutes. In order to accomplish this feat T7 has evolved an efficient and economical process for the replication of its DNA. The T7 replisome provides a model system to study DNA replication. Four proteins are sufficient for reconstitution of the functional replication complex, yet the assembled replisome recapitulates all the key features of more complex prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems. In this review, we describe chemical mechanisms employed by individual proteins at the replication fork. Integration of structural, biochemical, and single-molecule data reveals a compelling view on how a nearly 1-MDa molecular machine acts as a unit to synthetize the two antiparallel DNA strands in a coordinated fashion.
... We next examined whether SSB LD (␣ W) and SSB LD (␣ W F) can form a fully wrapped (SSB) 65 complex using a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) based assay (15,30,60,61) ( Figure 4A). This assay uses a (dT) 68 labeled with a Cy5 fluorophore (the FRET acceptor) on its 5' end and a Cy3 fluorophore (the FRET donor) on its 3' end. The (dT) 68 is long enough to bind only one SSB tetramer in the (SSB) 65 mode. ...
... This assay uses a (dT) 68 labeled with a Cy5 fluorophore (the FRET acceptor) on its 5' end and a Cy3 fluorophore (the FRET donor) on its 3' end. The (dT) 68 is long enough to bind only one SSB tetramer in the (SSB) 65 mode. When Cy5-(dT) 68 -Cy3-dT binds wtSSB in the fully wrapped (SSB) 65 mode, the Cy3 and Cy5 fluorophores are brought in close proximity and display a high FRET signal ( Figure 4A). ...
... Upon further addition of wtSSB, the enhancement remains at the maximum indicating formation of a stable, fully wrapped complex that does not subsequently form a 2:1 complex at higher SSB concentrations. Conversely, although SSB LD binding to Cy5-(dT) 68 -Cy3-dT also shows a maximum Cy5 fluorescence at a 1:1 binding stoichiometry, this is followed by a decrease in Cy5 fluorescence upon further addition of protein. The similar maximum fluorescence enhancement observed for wtSSB and SSB LD suggests that SSB LD forms a fully wrapped complex similar to wtSSB. ...
Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) is an essential homotetramer that binds ssDNA and recruits multiple proteins to
their sites of action during genomic maintenance. Each SSB subunit contains an N-terminal globular oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide
binding fold (OB-fold) and an intrinsically disordered C-terminal domain. SSB binds ssDNA in multiple modes in vitro, including the fully wrapped (SSB)65 and (SSB)56 modes, in which ssDNA contacts all four OB-folds, and the highly cooperative (SSB)35 mode, in which ssDNA contacts an average of only two OB-folds. These modes can both be populated under physiological conditions.
While these different modes might be used for different functions, this has been difficult to assess. Here we used a dimeric
SSB construct with two covalently linked OB-folds to disable ssDNA binding in two of the four OB-folds thus preventing formation
of fully wrapped DNA complexes in vitro, although they retain a wild-type-like, salt-dependent shift in cooperative binding to ssDNA. These variants complement wild-type
SSB in vivo indicating that a fully wrapped mode is not essential for function. These results do not preclude a normal function for a
fully wrapped mode, but do indicate that E. coli tolerates some flexibility with regards to its SSB binding modes.
... ORFs 21, 44, and 46 encode proteins responsible for host cleavage. ORFs 32,33,34,35,36,37,38,40,41,42,43,45, and 48 encode phage packaging and structural proteins. ORFs 3,4,5,7,10,12,13,14,15,18,24,25,29,31,47,49, and 50 encode hypothetical proteins ( Figure 2 and Table 1). ...
... ORF 16 encodes deoxynucleoside monophosphate kinase, an enzyme required to synthesize large amounts of phage DNA rapidly [42]. ORF 19 is a T7-like gp2.5 DNA single-strand binding protein that plays a critical role in DNA replication and recombination [43]. ORF 20 encodes a phage nucleic acid endonuclease whose involvement in homologous recombination is essential in repairing DNA double-strand breaks and rescuing stalled replication forks, and it is also necessary for genetic recombination and the breakdown of host DNA [44]. ...
Polar regions tend to support simple food webs, which are vulnerable to phage-induced gene transfer or microbial death. To further investigate phage-host interactions in polar regions and the potential linkage of phage communities between the two poles, we induced the release of a lysogenic phage, vB_PaeM-G11, from Pseudomonas sp. D3 isolated from the Antarctic, which formed clear phage plaques on the lawn of Pseudomonas sp. G11 isolated from the Arctic. From permafrost metagenomic data of the Arctic tundra, we found the genome with high-similarity to that of vB_PaeM-G11, demonstrating that vB_PaeM-G11 may have a distribution in both the Antarctic and Arctic. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that vB_PaeM-G11 is homologous to five uncultured viruses, and that they may represent a new genus in the Autographiviridae family, named Fildesvirus here. vB_PaeM-G11 was stable in a temperature range (4–40 °C) and pH (4–11), with latent and rise periods of about 40 and 10 min, respectively. This study is the first isolation and characterization study of a Pseudomonas phage distributed in both the Antarctic and Arctic, identifying its lysogenic host and lysis host, and thus provides essential information for further understanding the interaction between polar phages and their hosts and the ecological functions of phages in polar regions.
... SSBs exhibit a pronounced affinity for ssDNA, and typically consist of one or more oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding (OB)-fold domains 12,13 ; in addition, the bacterial and phage SSBs contain a characteristic acidic C-terminal segment for interaction with other replication proteins 14 . Currently the only structurally characterized dsDNA phage SSBs are those of phages T4 15 , T7 16 , RB69 17 and p2 18 , and no high-resolution structures in complex with DNA are known for any of them. In this study, we show that the Enc34 ORF6 is structurally homologous to the gene 2.5 protein from bacteriophage T7, and present a high-resolution structure of ORF6 in complex with ssDNA, which reveals for the first time the structural basis for the ssDNA-binding mechanism of T7-type SSBs. ...
... Most of the currently known high-resolution SSB-ssDNA complex structures consist of an assembly of four OB-fold domains that form a functional unit for DNA binding [27][28][29][30][31] . In contrast, T7 gp2.5 is thought to bind DNA as a monomer or a dimer 16 . Size-exclusion chromatography of the Enc34 ORF6 protein suggests that it exists as a monomer or possibly as a transient dimer in solution (data not shown), although the second capping helix α2 in ORF6 would prevent its dimerization akin to T7 gp2.5. ...
Modern DNA sequencing capabilities have led to the discovery of a large number of new bacteriophage genomes, which are a rich source of novel proteins with an unidentified biological role. The genome of Enterobacter cancerogenus bacteriophage Enc34 contains several proteins of unknown function that are nevertheless conserved among distantly related phages. Here, we report the crystal structure of a conserved Enc34 replication protein ORF6 which contains a domain of unknown function DUF2815. Despite the low (~15%) sequence identity, the Enc34 ORF6 structurally resembles the gene 2.5 protein from bacteriophage T7, and likewise is a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-binding protein (SSB) that consists of a variation of the oligosaccharide/oligonucleotide-binding (OB)-fold and an unstructured C-terminal segment. We further report the crystal structure of a C-terminally truncated ORF6 in complex with an ssDNA oligonucleotide that reveals a DNA-binding mode involving two aromatic stacks and multiple electrostatic interactions, with implications for a common ssDNA recognition mechanism for all T7-type SSBs.
... It is relatively easy to set up a highly active T7 replisome system from purified proteins in comparison to other replisomes (24), and it has many advantages: (i) an intact, functional replisome is efficiently formed using a minimal set of proteins; (ii) the proteins are well characterized biochemically, and the high-resolution structures are available (25)(26)(27); (iii) the T7 replisome is fast, processive, faithful, and stable, thus recapitulating many properties of eukaryotic replication; and (iv) detailed ensemble and single-molecule studies of DNA replication were conducted in the past (18,(24)(25)(26)(27)(28). ...
... It is relatively easy to set up a highly active T7 replisome system from purified proteins in comparison to other replisomes (24), and it has many advantages: (i) an intact, functional replisome is efficiently formed using a minimal set of proteins; (ii) the proteins are well characterized biochemically, and the high-resolution structures are available (25)(26)(27); (iii) the T7 replisome is fast, processive, faithful, and stable, thus recapitulating many properties of eukaryotic replication; and (iv) detailed ensemble and single-molecule studies of DNA replication were conducted in the past (18,(24)(25)(26)(27)(28). ...
Efficient overcoming and accurate maintenance of chromatin structure and associated histone marks during DNA replication are essential for normal functioning of the daughter cells. However, the molecular mechanisms of replication through chromatin are unknown. We have studied traversal of uniquely positioned mononucleosomes by T7 replisome in vitro. Nucleosomes present a strong, sequence-dependent barrier for replication, with particularly strong pausing of DNA polymerase at the +(31–40) and +(41–65) regions of the nucleosomal DNA. The exonuclease activity of T7 DNA polymerase increases the overall rate of progression of the replisome through a nucleosome, likely by resolving nonproductive complexes. The presence of nucleosome-free DNA upstream of the replication fork facilitates the progression of DNA polymerase through the nucleosome. After replication, at least 50% of the nucleosomes assume an alternative conformation, maintaining their original positions on the DNA. Our data suggest a previously unpublished mechanism for nucleosome maintenance during replication, likely involving transient formation of an intranucleosomal DNA loop.
... single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) (Williams et al. 1983), T4 gene 32 protein (Williams and Konigsberg 1978), and T7 gene 2.5 protein (Hollis et al. 2001). For many of these proteins, the C-terminal tail has a preponderance of negatively charged residues, and removal of the tail enhances the DNA-binding activity of the protein (Williams and Konigsberg 1978;Lonberg et al. 1981;Williams et al. 1983;Tateishi et al. 1992;Hollis et al. 2001;Eggler et al. 2003). ...
... single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) (Williams et al. 1983), T4 gene 32 protein (Williams and Konigsberg 1978), and T7 gene 2.5 protein (Hollis et al. 2001). For many of these proteins, the C-terminal tail has a preponderance of negatively charged residues, and removal of the tail enhances the DNA-binding activity of the protein (Williams and Konigsberg 1978;Lonberg et al. 1981;Williams et al. 1983;Tateishi et al. 1992;Hollis et al. 2001;Eggler et al. 2003). The disordered negatively charged tails of these proteins could electrostatically shield the DNA, preventing non-specific binding modes. ...
... In addition to the general binding properties of SSB proteins discussed in Section 4.1, which can be probed with both bulk assay and single-molecule studies, the binding dynamics of SSBs to ssDNA under tension can be studied exquisitely with the single-molecule tools, such as by using optical tweezers [16,32] and magnetic tweezers [35]. The forcedependence of binding often depends on the binding mode, which varies between SSBs, from the monomeric binding in an OB-fold by T7 gp2.5 SSB [95] to the wrapping of DNA by E. coli SSB [30]. As E. coli SSB is highly sensitive to force, the unwrapping of the DNA from E. coli SSB begins at tensions as low as 1 pN, and complete dissociation occurs between 7 and 12 pN [33]. ...
Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (SSBs) play vital roles in DNA metabolism. Proteins of the SSB family exclusively and transiently bind to ssDNA, preventing the DNA double helix from re-annealing and maintaining genome integrity. In the meantime, they interact and coordinate with various proteins vital for DNA replication, recombination, and repair. Although SSB is essential for DNA metabolism, proteins of the SSB family have been long described as accessory players, primarily due to their unclear dynamics and mechanistic interaction with DNA and its partners. Recently-developed single-molecule tools, together with biochemical ensemble techniques and structural methods, have enhanced our understanding of the different coordination roles that SSB plays during DNA metabolism. In this review, we discuss how single-molecule assays, such as optical tweezers, magnetic tweezers, Förster resonance energy transfer, and their combinations, have advanced our understanding of the binding dynamics of SSBs to ssDNA and their interaction with other proteins partners. We highlight the central coordination role that the SSB protein plays by directly modulating other proteins’ activities, rather than as an accessory player. Many possible modes of SSB interaction with protein partners are discussed, which together provide a bigger picture of the interaction network shaped by SSB.
... This dimeric form of SSB is also exhibited by T7 gp2.5, a very well characterized SSB protein. In fact, reports state that T7 gp2.5 has an OB-fold predominantly composed of antiparallel β-barrel [39,40]. CD spectra analysis of rGp13 also indicates that the predominant secondary structural form of the protein is a β-sheet. ...
Bacteriophage Phi11 harbors a gene, gp13, encoding the putative SSB protein (GenBank accession no. NC_004615.1). SSB proteins bind to and protect the single-stranded DNA molecules from nuclease digestion and are essential for the growth and metabolic activities of the organisms encoding them. In this investigation, we have carried out the cloning, recombinant expression, and purification of rGp13 for the first time in Escherichia coli. EMSA data indicated that the purified recombinant Gp13 protein was capable of binding to single-stranded DNA. The protein exhibited maximum binding activity at 32 °C. Furthermore, our bioinformatic analysis has revealed that Gp13 consists of an OB-fold, a characteristic of SSB proteins. However, the arrangement of the OB-fold is unique, being located in the C-terminal domain of Gp13. Despite the importance of SSB proteins in various metabolic processes as well as in various types of PCR, there are no reports on the purification and characterization of SSB proteins from staphylococcal bacteriophages. We expect that the purification and characterization of recombinant Gp13 will help us gain a better insight into its biological activity and make it available in large quantities for molecular biology work.
... Genomic DNA exists primarily as a duplex, while single-stranded DNA regions are generated transiently by the unwinding of duplex DNA during DNA replication, repair, recombination, and telomere maintenance (1,2). To maintain and protect DNA in the single-stranded (ss) state, single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (SSBs) have been evolved in all known cellular organisms [1][2][3] and some viruses [4][5][6]. These proteins bind ssDNA with high affinity and low sequence specificity, playing essential roles in DNA transactions, primarily by sequestering and protecting transiently formed ssDNA [7,8] and recruiting enzymes to ssDNA [9]. ...
The winged helix superfamily comprises a large number of structurally related nucleic acid-binding proteins. While these proteins are often shown to bind dsDNA, few are known to bind ssDNA. Here, we report the identification and characterization of Sul7s, a novel winged-helix single-stranded DNA binding protein family highly conserved in Sulfolobaceae. Sul7s from Sulfolobus islandicus binds ssDNA with an affinity approximately 15-fold higher than that for dsDNA in vitro. It prefers binding oligo(dT)30 over oligo(dC)30 or a dG-rich 30-nt oligonucleotide, and barely binds oligo(dA)30. Further, binding by Sul7s inhibits DNA strand annealing, but shows little effect on the melting temperature of DNA duplexes. The solution structure of Sul7s determined by NMR shows a winged helix-turn-helix fold, consisting of three α-helices, three β-strands, and two short wings. It interacts with ssDNA via a large positively charged binding surface, presumably resulting in ssDNA deformation. Our results shed significant light on not only non-OB fold single-stranded DNA binding proteins in Archaea, but also the divergence of the winged-helix proteins in both function and structure during evolution.
... was found to recombine the DNA polymerase-encoding gene with the E. coli phages (Fig. 3e), whereas HGT events of this genetic locus between the phages isolated fromVibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus were also evident in our experiments (Fig. 3f). The phage DNA polymerases are essential for the viral genome replication, DNA recombination and repair (Bedford et al. 1997;Hollis et al. 2001;Rezende et al. 2003). Interestingly enough, the alleles of the DNA primase-, ssDNA-binding protein, and DNA polymerase-encoding genes of the E. faecium prophage (CP043865.1) ...
... For binding to nucleotides OB-fold proteins require the presence of basic residues (such as lysine, arginine and histidine) which facilitate interactions with the nucleotide backbone, and aromatic residues (e.g. phenylalanine, tryptophan and tyrosine) which stabilise the nucleotide and prevent from spontaneous deamination (240,241). A number of putative nucleotide binding basic residues, such as R75 and R105, which are close to conserved aromatic residues (e.g. ...
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a versatile opportunistic bacterial pathogen. Its ability to successfully colonize various environments and hosts is partly due to the capability of P. aeruginosa to outcompete other bacteria. The Type Six Secretion System (T6SS) is one key weapon giving a competitive advantage. It is a supramolecular contractile machine capable of delivering a plethora of potent antibacterial toxins. P. aeruginosa possesses three T6SSs (H1- to H3-T6SS) and several T6SS-related islands scattered throughout the genome. Some of these islands encode the T6SS puncturing device, VgrG, and additional T6SS-related function such as Toxin-Immunity pairs.
The vgrG1b operon is present downstream of the H1-T6SS cluster and is composed of seven genes. This operon is highly conserved in P. aeruginosa genomes except for the toxin-immunity gene pair, tse7-tsi7. This study demonstrates the C-terminal DNase activity of Tse7. Moreover, the study shows that delivery of Tse7 requires the H1-T6SS and the N-terminus of Tse7 PAAR domain tops the VgrG1b spike. Tsi7, protects producing cells from the DNase activity through direct interactions with Tse7.
Additional putative nucleases were identified (TpnA and TpnB). These nucleases are encoded in genetic clusters also encoding PAAR proteins. The tpnB cluster encodes a novel T6SS-chaperone type, TapN, which harbours a DUF4123 domain. TapN is required for the association of the toxin TpnB to the PAAR (PA3904). Another protein, PA3906, encoded within the tpnB cluster is also proposed to have a putative chaperone function by interacting with the PAAR tip.
Finally, this study investigates the post-translational regulation of the H1-T6SS activity via the repressor TagF. Two mechanisms of TagF action have been proposed. Firstly, TagF directly counteracts Fha, a T6SS activator. Secondly, TagF directly interacts with T6SS components making the so-called baseplate subcomplex, suggesting a new mode of inhibition by blocking T6SS conformational changes and subsequent sheath contraction.
... was found to recombine the DNA polymerase-encoding gene with the E. coli phages (Fig. 3e), whereas HGT events of this genetic locus between the phages isolated fromVibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus were also evident in our experiments (Fig. 3f). The phage DNA polymerases are essential for the viral genome replication, DNA recombination and repair (Bedford et al. 1997;Hollis et al. 2001;Rezende et al. 2003). Interestingly enough, the alleles of the DNA primase-, ssDNA-binding protein, and DNA polymerase-encoding genes of the E. faecium prophage (CP043865.1) ...
Unraveling the trends of phage-host versus phage-phage coevolution is critical for avoiding possible undesirable outcomes from the use of phage preparations intended for therapeutic, food safety or environmental safety purposes. We aimed to investigate a phenomenon of intergeneric recombination and its trajectories across the natural populations of phages predominantly linked to foodborne pathogens. The results from the recombination analyses, using a large array of the recombination detection algorithms imbedded in SplitsTree, RDP4, and Simplot software packages, provided strong evidence (fit: 100; P ≤ 0.014) for both bi- and multi-directional intergeneric recombination of the genetic loci involved collectively in phage morphogenesis, host specificity, virulence, replication, and persistence. Intergeneric recombination was determined to occur not only among conspecifics of the virulent versus temperate phages but also between the phages with these different lifestyles. The recombining polyvalent phages were suggested to interact with fairly large host species networks, including sometimes genetically very distinct species, such as e.g., Salmonella enterica and/or Escherichia coli versus Staphylococcus aureus or Yersinia pestis. Further studies are needed to understand whether phage-driven intergeneric recombination can lead to undesirable changes of intestinal and other microbiota in humans and animals.
... [49,50] As in the case of gp32, the E. coli SSB C-domain is the site of interaction with a large number of proteins that function in replication, recombination, and repair. [51] The presence of an unstructured, acidic C-domain participating in a large number of heterotypic protein-protein interactions essential to DNA metabolism may be a property shared by many SSBs, including the C-domains of the E. coli SSB and the T7 gene 2.5 protein [52]. With the requirement of recognizing many protein partners, it would seem that structural flexibility in this part of the protein would optimize selectivity and kinetically facilitate transfer from one heterotypic interaction to another. ...
The model single-stranded DNA binding protein of bacteriophage T4, gene 32 protein (gp32) has well-established roles in DNA replication, recombination, and repair. gp32 is a single-chain polypeptide consisting of three domains. Based on thermodynamics and kinetics measurements, we have proposed that gp32 can undergo a conformational change where the acidic C-terminal domain binds internally to or near the single-stranded (ss) DNA binding surface in the core (central) domain, blocking ssDNA interaction. To test this model, we have employed a variety of experimental approaches and gp32 variants to characterize this conformational change. Utilizing stopped-flow methods, the association kinetics of wild type and truncated forms of gp32 with ssDNA were measured. When the C-domain is present, the log-log plot of k vs. [NaCl] shows a positive slope, whereas when it is absent (*I protein), there is little rate change with salt concentration, as expected for this model.A gp32 variant lacking residues 292–296 within the C-domain, ΔPR201, displays kinetic properties intermediate between gp32 and *I. The single molecule force-induced DNA helix-destabilizing activitiesas well as the single- and double-stranded DNA affinities of ΔPR201 and gp32 truncated at residue 295 also fall between full-length protein and *I. Finally, chemical cross-linking of recombinant C-domain and gp32 lacking both N- and C-terminal domains is inhibited by increasing concentrations of a short single-stranded oligonucleotide, and the salt dependence of cross-linking mirrors that expected for the model. Taken together, these results provide the first evidence in support of this model that have been obtained through structural probes.
... Crystal structures of all of the individual T7 replication proteins have been determined (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). However, to date there is no structural information on the T7 replisome or its subassemblies. ...
Significance
The antiparallel nature of the two strands in duplex DNA poses a topological problem for their simultaneous synthesis. The “trombone” model of the replication fork postulates that the lagging-strand forms a loop such that the leading- and lagging-strand replication proteins contact one another. The replisome then can move in one direction along the DNA while synthesizing both strands. Physical interactions between the replication proteins and DNA coordinate processive synthesis of the leading and lagging strands. Here, we present the structure of a functional replisome from bacteriophage T7. Our structural and biochemical analyses provide an explanation of the mechanisms governing coordination of leading- and lagging-strand synthesis.
... Although crystal structures of individual T7 replication proteins were determined Hollis et al., 2001;Toth et al., 2003), an understanding of the assembled T7 replisome has been hampered by alternative modes of protein interactions that generate heterogeneous protein complexes. To overcome these difficulties, we integrated crystallographic and biophysical methods to analyze the core architecture of the T7 replisome. ...
The physical organization of DNA enzymes at a repli- cation fork enables efficient copying of two antipar- allel DNA strands, yet dynamic protein interactions within the replication complex complicate replisome structural studies. We employed a combination of crystallographic, native mass spectrometry and small-angle X-ray scattering experiments to capture alternative structures of a model replication system encoded by bacteriophage T7. Two molecules of DNA polymerase bind the ring-shaped primase-heli- case in a conserved orientation and provide struc- tural insight into how the acidic C-terminal tail of the primase-helicase contacts the DNA polymerase to facilitate loading of the polymerase onto DNA. A third DNA polymerase binds the ring in an offset manner that may enable polymerase exchange during replication. Alternative polymerase binding modes are also detected by small-angle X-ray scat- tering with DNA substrates present. Our collective re- sults unveil complex motions within T7 replisome higher-order structures that are underpinned by multivalent protein-protein interactions with func- tional implications.
... The putative ORF 28 encodes a protein with conserved motifs associated with a singlestranded DNA binding protein. Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins promote the integration of components of the DNA replication complex (Hollis et al., 2001). This protein is likely essential for DNA replication of phage phiC119. ...
Background:
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is one of the most common and widely distributed foodborne pathogens that has been frequently implicated in gastrointestinal and urinary tract infections. Moreover, high rates of multiple antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains have been reported worldwide. Due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains, bacteriophages are considered an attractive alternative to biocontrol pathogenic bacteria. Characterization is a preliminary step towards designing a phage for biocontrol.
Methods:
In this study, we describe the characterization of a bacteriophage designated phiC119, which can infect and lyse several multidrug-resistant STEC strains and some Salmonella strains. The phage genome was screened to detect the stx-genes using PCR, morphological analysis, host range was determined, and genome sequencing were carried out, as well as an analysis of the cohesive ends and identification of the type of genetic material through enzymatic digestion of the genome.
Results:
Analysis of the bacteriophage particles by transmission electron microscopy showed that it had an icosahedral head and a long tail, characteristic of the family Siphoviridae. The phage exhibits broad host range against multidrug-resistant and highly virulent E. coli isolates. One-step growth experiments revealed that the phiC119 phage presented a large burst size (210 PFU/cell) and a latent period of 20 min. Based on genomic analysis, the phage contains a linear double-stranded DNA genome with a size of 47,319 bp. The phage encodes 75 putative proteins, but lysogeny and virulence genes were not found in the phiC119 genome.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that phage phiC119 may be a good biological control agent. However, further studies are required to ensure its control of STEC and to confirm the safety of phage use.
... Typically, the SSB function at a replication fork is performed by proteins that have one or more domains of the oligonucleotidebinding (OB) fold (43). We found that in dsDNA viruses SSBs based on the OB-fold are also most common, and the majority of them can be unambiguously linked to one of the groups represented by crystal structures of E. coli SSB (44), phage T7 protein gp2.5 (45), phage T4 protein gp32 (46), herpesvirus ICP8 (47) or archaeo-eukaryotic Replication Protein A (RPA) (48). Most often dsDNA viruses have E. coli SSB homologs that appear to be confined to bacteriophages ( Figure 1). ...
Genomic DNA replication is a complex process that involves multiple proteins. Cellular DNA replication systems are broadly classified into only two types, bacterial and archaeo-eukaryotic. In contrast, double-stranded (ds) DNA viruses feature a much broader diversity of DNA replication machineries. Viruses differ greatly in both completeness and composition of their sets of DNA replication proteins. In this study, we explored whether there are common patterns underlying this extreme diversity. We identified and analyzed all major functional groups of DNA replication proteins in all available proteomes of dsDNA viruses. Our results show that some proteins are common to viruses infecting all domains of life and likely represent components of the ancestral core set. These include B-family polymerases, SF3 helicases, archaeo-eukaryotic primases, clamps and clamp loaders of the archaeo-eukaryotic type, RNase H and ATP-dependent DNA ligases. We also discovered a clear correlation between genome size and self-sufficiency of viral DNA replication, the unanticipated dominance of replicative helicases and pervasive functional associations among certain groups of DNA replication proteins. Altogether, our results provide a comprehensive view on the diversity and evolution of replication systems in the DNA virome and uncover fundamental principles underlying the orchestration of viral DNA replication.
... Sylvie Doublié, a research fellow in Tom's lab, generated crystals for diffraction, and shortly thereafter we had a beautiful 2.2-Å structure (265). Soon to follow were the structures of the helicase and the primase (185,266), the fulllength gene 4 protein (267), and the gene 2.5 protein (261). These structures were determined by Michael Sawaya, Masato Kato, Eric Toth, and Tom Hollis, all in the Ellenberger lab. ...
I spent my childhood and adolescence in North and South Carolina, attended Duke University, and then entered Duke Medical School. One year in the laboratory of George Schwert in the biochemistry department kindled my interest in biochemistry. After one year of residency on the medical service of Duke Hospital, chaired by Eugene Stead, I joined the group of Arthur Kornberg at Stanford Medical School as a postdoctoral fellow. Two years later I accepted a faculty position at Harvard Medical School, where I remain today. During these 50 years, together with an outstanding group of students, postdoctoral fellows, and collaborators, I have pursued studies on DNA replication. I have experienced the excitement of discovering a number of important enzymes in DNA replication that, in turn, triggered an interest in the dynamics of a replisome. My associations with industry have been stimulating and fostered new friendships. I could not have chosen a better career.
... Research results have shown that although the sequences of different SSBs are very different, there are well-conserved elements in the structures. That is, most SSBs contain one or more OB (oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide binding) -fold domains [6,[15][16][17][18]. A typical OBfold has a five-stranded beta-sheet coiled to form a closed beta-barrel. ...
Protein-DNA interactions are essential for many biological processes. However, the structural mechanisms underlying these interactions are not fully understood. DNA binding proteins can be classified into double-stranded DNA binding proteins (DSBs) and single-stranded DNA binding proteins (SSBs), and they take part in different biological functions. DSBs usually act as transcriptional factors to regulate the genes' expressions, while SSBs usually play roles in DNA replication, recombination, and repair, etc. Understanding the binding specificity of a DNA binding protein is helpful for the research of protein functions.
In this paper, we investigated the differences between DSBs and SSBs on surface tunnels as well as the OB-fold domain information. We detected the largest clefts on the protein surfaces, to obtain several features to be used for distinguishing the potential interfaces between SSBs and DSBs, and compared its structure with each of the six OB-fold protein templates, and use the maximal alignment score TM-score as the OB-fold feature of the protein, based on which, we constructed the support vector machine (SVM) classification model to automatically distinguish these two kinds of proteins, with prediction accuracy of 87%,83% and 83% for HOLO-set, APO-set and Mixed-set respectively.
We found that they have different ranges of tunnel lengths and tunnel curvatures; moreover, the alignment results with OB-fold templates have also found to be the discriminative feature of SSBs and DSBs. Experimental results on 10-fold cross validation indicate that the new feature set are effective to describe DNA binding proteins. The evaluation results on both bound (DNA-bound) and non-bound (DNA-free) proteins have shown the satisfactory performance of our method.
... sieben Nukleotide der ssDNA (Lohman et al., 1988). Die SSB-Proteine der T7-Phagen, die Gen2.5 Proteine (Hollis et al., 2001), und die Gen5 Proteine der filamentösen Phagen M13, fd, f1, Ike und Pf1 (Kneale, 1992) liegen als Homodimere vor. ...
... Furthermore, analysis by PROFbval, Ucon, and MD predicted that RstB2 protein has a disordered, highly flexible C-terminus with no regular secondary structure, as expected for this kind of regions. Moreover, it has a proline residue involved in mediating protein-protein interactions, similar to other prokaryotic SSBs [25,31,34,35]. In fact, the charged and proline residues found could contribute to the high flexibility, predicted, and needed for that region. ...
The low abundant protein RstB2, encoded in the RS2 region of CTXϕ, is essential for prophage formation. However, the only biochemical activity so far described is the single/double-stranded DNA-binding capacity of that protein. In this paper, a recombinant RstB2 (rRstB2) protein was overexpressed in E. coli with a yield of 58.4 mg l(-1) in shaken cultures, LB broth. The protein, purified to homogeneity, showed an identity with rRstB2 by peptide mass fingerprinting. The apparent molecular weight of the RstB2 native protein suggests that occurs mostly as a monomer in solution. The monomers were able of reacting immediately upon exposure to DNA molecules. After a year of storage at -20 °C, the protein remains biologically active. Bioinformatics analysis of the amino acid sequence of RstB2 predicts the C-end of this protein to be disordered and highly flexible, like in many other single-stranded DNA-binding proteins. When compared with the gVp of M13, conserved amino acids are found at structurally or functionally important relative positions. These results pave the way for additional studies of structure and molecular function of RstB2 for the biology of CTXϕ.
Zika virus (ZIKV) serine protease, indispensable for viral polyprotein processing and replication, is composed of the membrane-anchored NS2B polypeptide and the N-terminal domain of the NS3 polypeptide (NS3pro). The C-terminal domain of the NS3 polypeptide (NS3hel) is necessary for helicase activity and contains an ATP-binding site. We discovered that ZIKV NS2B-NS3pro binds single-stranded RNA with a K d of ~0.3 μM, suggesting a novel function. We tested various structural modifications of NS2B-NS3pro and observed that constructs stabilized in the recently discovered “super-open” conformation do not bind RNA. Likewise, stabilizing NS2B-NS3pro in the “closed” (proteolytically active) conformation using substrate inhibitors abolished RNA binding. We posit that RNA binding occurs when ZIKV NS2B-NS3pro adopts the “open” conformation, which we modeled using highly homologous dengue NS2B-NS3pro crystallized in the open conformation. We identified two positively charged fork-like structures present only in the open conformation of NS3pro. These forks are conserved across Flaviviridae family and could be aligned with the positively charged grove on NS3hel, providing a contiguous binding surface for the negative RNA strand exiting helicase. We propose a “reverse inchworm” model for a tightly intertwined NS2B-NS3 helicase-protease machinery, which suggests that NS2B-NS3pro cycles between open and super-open conformations to bind and release RNA enabling long-range NS3hel processivity. The transition to the closed conformation, likely induced by the substrate, enables the classical protease activity of NS2B-NS3pro.
Over the past few years, numerous anti-phage defense systems have been discovered in bacteria. Although the mechanism of defense for some of these systems is understood, a major unanswered question is how these systems sense phage infection. To systematically address this question, we isolated 177 phage mutants that escape 15 different defense systems. In many cases, these escaper phages were mutated in the gene sensed by the defense system, enabling us to map the phage determinants that confer sensitivity to bacterial immunity. Our data identify specificity determinants of diverse retron systems and reveal phage-encoded triggers for multiple abortive infection systems. We find general themes in phage sensing and demonstrate that mechanistically diverse systems have converged to sense either the core replication machinery of the phage, phage structural components, or host takeover mechanisms. Combining our data with previous findings, we formulate key principles on how bacterial immune systems sense phage invaders.
The lysine (K) tRNA synthetase C-terminal (KTSC) domain containing proteins are widely spread in Bacteria, Archaea and Viruses, but the function of this short domain is unclear. The occurrence of the fusion of KTSC domain to a catalytic domain or domains related to DNA or RNA metabolisms suggests its potential role in DNA or RNA binding. Here, we report the characterization of Mvu8s from Methanolobus vulcani, which consists of a single KTSC domain. Mvu8s binds specifically to ssDNA with an affinity approximately 40- and 10-fold higher than those for dsDNA and ssRNA in vitro, respectively. It shows a slight preference to the G-rich DNA sequence but barely binds the A-stretch. Crystal structure of Mvu8s shows that it forms a homo-tetramer, with each monomer composed of a four-strand antiparallel β-sheet and a helix-turn-helix in the order of β1-β2-β3-α1-α2-β4. Four basic residues (R3, R7, K54 and K58) were found to serve important roles in ssDNA-binding. And, the spiral arrangement of the DNA interfaces in Mvu8s homo-tetramer presumably results in ssDNA wrapping. Our results not only offer clues of the functions of the KTSC domain containing proteins but also expand our knowledge on the non-oligonucleotide-binding (OB) fold single-stranded DNA-binding proteins in Archaea.
Faithfull replication of genomic information relies on the coordinated activity of the multi-protein machinery known as the replisome. Several constituents of the replisome operate as molecular motors that couple thermal and chemical energy to a mechanical task. Over the last few decades, in vitro single-molecule manipulation techniques have been used to monitor and manipulate mechanically the activities of individual molecular motors involved in DNA replication with nanometer, millisecond, and picoNewton resolutions. These studies have uncovered the real-time kinetics of operation of these biological systems, the nature of their transient intermediates, and the processes by which they convert energy to work (mechano-chemistry), ultimately providing new insights into their inner workings of operation not accessible by ensemble assays. In this chapter, we describe two of the most widely used single-molecule manipulation techniques for the study of DNA replication, optical and magnetic tweezers, and their application in the study of the activities of proteins involved in viral DNA replication.
Protein-DNA interactions play crucial roles in DNA replication across all living organisms. Here, we apply a suite of mass spectrometry (MS) tools to characterize a protein-ssDNA complex, T4 gp32·ssDNA, with results that both support previous studies and simultaneously uncover novel insight into this non-covalent biological complex. Native mass spectrometry of the protein reveals the co-occurrence of Zn-bound monomers and homodimers, while addition of differing lengths of ssDNA generates a variety of protein:ssDNA complex stoichiometries (1 : 1, 2 : 1, 3 : 1), indicating sequential association of gp32 monomers with ssDNA. Ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) mass spectrometry allows characterization of the binding site of the ssDNA within the protein monomer via analysis of holo ions, i.e. ssDNA-containing protein fragments, enabling interrogation of disordered regions of the protein which are inaccessible via traditional crystallographic techniques. Finally, two complementary cross-linking (XL) approaches, bottom-up analysis of the crosslinked complexes as well as MS1 analysis of the intact complexes, are used to showcase the absence of ssDNA binding with the intact cross-linked homodimer and to generate two homodimer gp32 model structures which highlight that the homodimer interface overlaps with the monomer ssDNA-binding site. These models suggest that the homodimer may function in a regulatory capacity by controlling the extent of ssDNA binding of the protein monomer. In sum, this work underscores the utility of a multi-faceted mass spectrometry approach for detailed investigation of non-covalent protein-DNA complexes.
Maintenance of genomes is fundamental for all living organisms. The diverse processes related to genome maintenance entail the management of various intermediate structures, which may be deleterious if unresolved. The most frequent intermediate structures that result from the melting of the DNA duplex are single-stranded (ss) DNA stretches. These are thermodynamically less stable and can spontaneously fold into secondary structures, which may obstruct a variety of genome processes. In addition, ssDNA is more prone to breaking, which may lead to the formation of deletions or DNA degradation. Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (SSBs) bind and stabilize ssDNA, preventing the abovementioned deleterious consequences and recruiting the appropriate machinery to resolve that intermediate molecule. They are present in all forms of life and are essential for their viability, with very few exceptions. Here we present an introductory chapter to a volume of the Methods in Molecular Biology dedicated to SSBs, in which we provide a general description of SSBs from various taxa.
The field of structural biology focuses on determining and studying the structures of macromolecules in order to understand how three-dimensional shape dictates function at the molecular level. There are a variety of experimental tools that can be used to determine protein structures, and each technique has its strengths and weaknesses. This chapter focuses on three of these techniques: X-ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM). Each technique is introduced, and its strengths and weaknesses as a tool for protein structure determination are discussed. The emphasis of this chapter is that while these techniques on their own can provide a wealth of information regarding protein structure, when combined they complement each other to paint a more complete picture of the three-dimensional architecture of proteins. Two examples from the literature are provided where all three techniques were utilized to learn the fine details of protein structure. The first example reveals the structural details of how multiple proteins assemble to replicate DNA, while the second shows how multiple structures of a single enzyme with and without substrate bound can provide the molecular details of a catalytic cycle.
Single stranded DNA binding proteins (SSB) are essential to the cell as they stabilize transiently open single stranded DNA (ssDNA) intermediates, recruit appropriate DNA metabolism proteins, and coordinate fundamental processes such as replication, repair and recombination. Escherichia coli single stranded DNA binding protein (EcSSB) has long served as the prototype for the study of SSB function. The structure, functions, and DNA binding properties of EcSSB are well established: The protein is a stable homotetramer with each subunit possessing an N-terminal DNA binding core, a C-terminal protein-protein interaction tail, and an intervening intrinsically disordered linker (IDL). EcSSB wraps ssDNA in multiple DNA binding modes and can diffuse along DNA to remove secondary structures and remodel other protein-DNA complexes. This review provides an update on these features based on recent findings, with special emphasis on the functional and mechanistic relevance of the IDL and DNA binding modes.
The essential bacteriophage T7-encoded single-stranded DNA binding protein is the nexus of T7 DNA metabolism. Multiple layers of macromolecular interactions mediate its function in replication, recombination, repair, and the maturation of viral genomes. In addition to binding ssDNA, the protein binds to DNA polymerase and DNA helicase, regulating their activities. The protein displays potent homologous DNA annealing activity, underscoring its role in recombination.
The hybridization of two complementary ssDNA is essential for molecular biology and biological physics. T7 ssDNA binding protein (gp2.5) can rapidly facilitate this hybridization, but the mechanism and kinetic process remain unknown. As determined by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and rapid kinetic analysis methods, gp2.5 binding coiling ssDNA to form gp2.5-ssDNA complex is the rate-limiting step for the entire DNA hybridization process. Afterward, the hybridization initiates from either the terminus or the internal part of ssDNA at a nucleation rate of 0.45 s-1. The remaining DNA strands are hybridized in a zippering mode at a rate of 0.07 s-1, limited by the dissociation of gp2.5 from ssDNA. The gp2.5-faciliated hybridization rate constant (74 μM-1s-1) is much higher than the spontaneous hybridization rate (1.7 μM-1s-1) in the absence of gp2.5. These hybridization mechanism and kinetic process are different from those by other ssDNA binding proteins, such as T4 gp32, Escherichia coli SSB protein and recA protein. Compare with E. coli SSB, the relatively slower association of gp2.5 to ssDNA and faster dissociation of gp2.5 from ssDNA are probably the major reasons to facilitate the rapid hybridization. This study provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanism of the recombination and repair processes and proposes a basis for improvement in their associated biotechnologies.
Ligands binding to polymers regulate polymer functions by changing their physical and chemical properties. This ligand regulation plays a key role in many biological processes. We propose here a model to explain the mechanical, thermodynamic, and kinetic properties of the process of binding of small ligands to long biopolymers. These properties can now be measured at the single molecule level using force spectroscopy techniques. Our model performs an effective decomposition of the ligand-polymer system on its covered and uncovered regions, showing that the elastic properties of the ligand-polymer depend explicitly on the ligand coverage of the polymer (i.e., the fraction of the polymer covered by the ligand). The equilibrium coverage that minimizes the free energy of the ligand-polymer system is computed as a function of the applied force. We show how ligands tune the mechanical properties of a polymer, in particular its length and stiffness, in a force dependent manner. In addition, it is shown how ligand binding can be regulated applying mechanical tension on the polymer. Moreover, the binding kinetics study shows that, in the case where the ligand binds and organizes the polymer in different modes, the binding process can present transient shortening or lengthening of the polymer, caused by changes in the relative coverage by the different ligand modes. Our model will be useful to understand ligand-binding regulation of biological processes, such as the metabolism of nucleic acid. In particular, this model allows estimating the coverage fraction and the ligand mode characteristics from the force extension curves of a ligand-polymer system.
Recombination mediator proteins (RMPs) are critical for genome integrity in all organisms. They include phage UvsY, prokaryotic RecF, -O, -R (RecFOR) and eukaryotic Rad52, Breast Cancer susceptibility 2 (BRCA2) and Partner and localizer of BRCA2 (PALB2) proteins. BRCA2 and PALB2 are tumor suppressors implicated in cancer. RMPs regulate binding of RecA-like recombinases to sites of DNA damage to initiate the most efficient non-mutagenic repair of broken chromosome and other deleterious DNA lesions. Mechanistically, RMPs stimulate a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) hand-off from ssDNA binding proteins (ssbs) such as gp32, SSB and RPA, to recombinases, activating DNA repair only at the time and site of the damage event. This review summarizes structural studies of RMPs and their implications for understanding mechanism and function. Comparative analysis of RMPs is complicated due to their convergent evolution. In contrast to the evolutionary conserved ssbs and recombinases, RMPs are extremely diverse in sequence and structure. Structural studies are particularly important in such cases to reveal common features of the entire family and specific features of regulatory mechanisms for each member. All RMPs are characterized by specific DNA-binding domains and include variable protein interaction motifs. The complexity of such RMPs corresponds to the ever-growing number of DNA metabolism events they participate in under normal and pathological conditions and requires additional comprehensive structure-functional studies.
Distant homology search tools are of great help to predict viral protein functions. However, due to the lack of profile databases dedicated to viruses, they can lack sensitivity. We constructed HMM profiles for more than 80,000 proteins from both phages and archaeal viruses, and performed all pairwise comparisons with HHsearch program. The whole resulting database can be explored through a user-friendly “Phagonaute” interface to help predict functions. Results are displayed together with their genetic context, to strengthen inferences based on remote homology. Beyond function prediction, this tool permits detections of co-occurrences, often indicative of proteins completing a task together, and observation of conserved patterns across large evolutionary distances. As a test, Herpes simplex virus I was added to Phagonaute, and 25% of its proteome matched to bacterial or archaeal viral protein counterparts. Phagonaute should therefore help virologists in their quest for protein functions and evolutionary relationships.
Protein-DNA bindings are critical to many biological processes. However, the structural mechanisms underlying these interactions are not fully understood. Here, we analyzed the residues shape (peak, flat or valley) and the surrounding environment of double-stranded DNA-binding proteins (DSBs) and single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (SSBs) in protein-DNA interfaces. In the results, we found that the interface shapes, hydrogen bonds and the surrounding environment present significant differences between the two kinds of proteins. Built on the investigation results, we constructed a random forest (RF) classifier to distinguish DSBs and SSBs with satisfying performance. In conclusion, we present a novel methodology to characterize protein interfaces, which will deepen our understanding of the specificity of proteins binding to ssDNA (single-stranded DNA) or dsDNA (double-stranded DNA). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The diversity of the viruses infecting bacteria (bacteriophages, or phages for short) is so important that it is difficult to classify them in a pertinent way, and the species notion itself is a matter of debate among specialists. At the root of this diversity, one of the key factors is DNA recombination, which occurs at high levels among phages, and permits gene exchanges among entities that are sometimes very distant. My research has focused on homologous recombination in phages, and in particular on the protein that is key to the process, the recombinase. I have shown, for two different types of recombinases, Rad52-like and Sak4-like, that their fidelity was relaxed, compared to the bacterial recombinase, RecA. Moreover, for Sak4, a protein that had not been studied before, I showed that recombination occurs by single strand annealing, and that it is strictly dependent in vivo on the co-expression of its cognate SSB protein, whose gene is often encoded nearby in phage genomes encoding sak4. Genetic exchanges are therefore greatly facilitated for phages encoding these types of recombinases. Nevertheless, exchanges are not anarchical: recombination is seen up to 22% diverged substrates, but 50% diverged DNA sequences will not recombine. It may be that the species notion should be enlarged for phages, so as to include into a same group all phages exhibiting traces of recent exchanges of genetic material (the so-called mosaicism).
We compare the DNA-interactive properties of bacteriophage T4 gene 32 protein (gp32) with those of crotamine, a component of the venom of the South American rattlesnake. Gene 32 protein is a classical single-stranded DNA binding protein that has served as a model for this class of proteins. We discuss its biological functions, structure, binding specificities, how it controls its own expression. In addition, we dilineate the roles of the structural domains of gp32, and how they in regulate the protein's various activities. Crotamine, a component of the venom of the South American rattlesnake, is probably not a DNA binding protein in nature, but clearly shows significant DNA binding in vitro. Crotamine has been shown to selectively disrupt rapidly-dividing cells, and this specificity has been demonstrated for crotamine-facilitated delivery of plasmid DNA Thus, crotamine, or a variant of the protein, could have important clinical and/or diagnostic roles. Understanding its DNA binding properties may therefore lead to more effective drug delivery vehicles.
Following amputation, a planarian tail fragment can regrow into a complete organism including a well-organized brain within about 2-3 weeks, thus restoring the structure and function to presurgical levels. Despite the enormous potential of these animals for regenerative medicine, our understanding of the exact mechanism of planarian regeneration is incomplete. To better understand the molecular nature of planarian head regeneration, we applied two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE)/matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF)/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF MS) technique to analyze the dynamic proteomic expression profiles over the course of 6 to 168 h post-decapitation. This approach identified a total of 141 differentially expressed proteins, 47 of which exhibited exceptionally high fold changes (≥3-fold change). Of these, Rx protein, an important regulator of head and brain development, was considered to be closely related to planarian head regeneration because of its exceptional high expression almost throughout the time course of regeneration process. Functional annotation analysis classified the 141 proteins into eight categories: (1) signaling, (2) Ca(2+) binding and translocation, (3) transcription and translation, (4) cytoskeleton, (5) metabolism, (6) cell protection, (7) tissue differentiation, and (8) cell cycle. Signaling pathway analysis indicated that Wnt1/Ca(2+) signaling pathway was activated during head regeneration. Integrating the analyses of proteome expression profiling, functional annotation, and signaling pathway, amputation-induced head reformation requires some mechanisms to promote cell proliferation and differentiation, including differential regulation of proapoptotic and antiapoptotic proteins, and the regulation of proliferation and differentiation-related proteins. Importantly, Wnt1/Ca(2+) signaling pathway upregulates Rx expression, finally facilitating the differentiation of neoblasts into various cell types. Taken together, our study demonstrated that proteomic analysis approach used by us is a powerful tool in understanding molecular process related to head regeneration of planarian.
Introduction: Unprotected single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) exists transiently during cellular processes such as DNA replication, recombination, and repair and is therefore vulnerable to chemically reactive agents in the cell. In order to circumvent this vulnerability, cells have evolved a class of proteins, the ssDNA binding proteins, that not only protect the naked DNA from chemical reactants, but also regulate and/or assist the above processes. 1 The gene 2.5 protein (gp2.5) from bacteriophage T7 is a ssDNA binding protein that interacts with both the helicase/primase (gp4) and the polymerase (gp5) at the replication fork. Gene 2.5 assists in both leading and lagging strand synthesis by stimulating the primer synthesis activity of gp4 and the polymerase activity of gp5 through physical interactions with both proteins. 2 In addition, gp2.5 exhibits a strand annealing activity that is unique among the ssDNA binding proteins. 3,4 This strand annealing activity contributes to genetic recombination during phage T7 growth. 5 In order to gain some understanding of how gp2.5 functions in the context of a replisome, and to gain insight into its strand annealing activity, we have undertaken the crystal structure determination of gp2.5 in complex with ssDNA. Methods and Materials: Native x-ray diffraction data for the complex of gp2.5 with poly(dT) were collected to 2.6Å at NSLS Beamline X25. Data for a mercury-substituted crystal were collected to 2.9Å at NSLS Beamline X12B. Structure solution via molecular replacement using the apo-gp2.5 structure 6 as a search model unambiguously placed a single monomer in the asymmetric unit and established the space group as P4 1 2 1 2. Results and Conclusions: The initial molecular replacement phases failed, even after considerable model rebuilding and refinement, to reveal the location of the bound ssDNA. However, subsequent SIRAS phasing using the mercury substituted protein revealed a stretch of unaccounted for density in the proposed DNA-binding cleft 6 that was significantly enhanced after solvent flattening and histogram matching. Modeling of the bound ssDNA is in progress. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by grants from the NIH. We thank the staffs of Beamlines X25 and X12B for their assistance with data collection.
Low-energy electrons are abundant throughout the fundamental processes determining radiation chemistry. They can attach to DNA via molecular resonances and induce strand breaks. We investigate for the first time how a protein bound to DNA modifies this interaction. By a fluorescence method we demonstrate much lower damage due to 3eV electrons to the surface tethered (dT)25 oligonucleotides complexed with a single-strand-binding (SSB) protein, as compared to the oligonucleotides not engaged in the complex formation. Density functional theory calculation suggests that in addition to the physical shielding the protein might also impede the DNA electron damage through the bonding interactions.
Unlike most DNA polymerases, retroviral reverse transcriptases (RTs) are capable of strand displacement DNA synthesis in vitro, unassisted by other proteins. While human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RT has been shown to possess this rare ability, the structural determinants responsible are unknown. X-Ray crystallographic and biochemical studies have indicated that the β3-β4 hairpin of the fingers subdomain of HIV-1 RT contains key contacts for the incoming template strand. In order to assess the possible role of the fingers subdomain in strand displacement synthesis, a set of substitutions was created at the highly conserved Phe61 residue, which is thought to contact the template strand immediately ahead of the dNTP-binding site. Purified heterodimeric RTs containing Phe61 substitutions displayed altered degrees of strand displacement synthesis on nicked and gapped duplex DNA templates with the relative order being: F61Y≥F61L>wild-type=F61A>F61W. In order to verify that the effects on strand displacement synthesis were not an indirect effect of alterations in processivity, all Phe61 mutants were tested for processive polymerization. While the strand displacement activity of F61W RT variant was affected severely, it displayed a wild-type-like processivity. In contrast, both F61L and F61Y substitutions, despite showing enhanced strand displacement synthesis, displayed reduced processivity. In contrast, the processivity of F61A mutant, which had displayed nearly wild-type-like strand displacement synthesis, was affected most. These results showed that the effects of Phe61 substitutions on strand displacement are not due to global changes in polymerase processivity. Analysis of pause sites during DNA polymerization on double-stranded templates revealed that the wild-type and the Phe61 mutant RTs interact with the template quite differently. Modeling a 5nt duplex DNA ahead of the dNTP-binding site of HIV-1 RT suggested a correlation between the ability of the side-chain of the amino acid residue at position 61 to stabilize the first base-pair of the DNA duplex to be melted and the degree of strand displacement synthesis. Our results confirm a role for F61 residue in processive synthesis and indicate that the fingers subdomain harbors a structural determinant of strand displacement synthesis by HIV-1 RT.
Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (SSBs) are ubiquitous oligomeric proteins that bind with very high affinity to single-stranded DNA and have a variety of essential roles in DNA metabolism. Nanoelectrospray ionization mass spectrometry (nanoESI-MS) was used to monitor subunit exchange in full-length and truncated forms of the homotetrameric SSB from Escherichia coli. Subunit exchange in the native protein was found to occur slowly over a period of hours, but was significantly more rapid in a truncated variant of SSB from which the eight C-terminal residues were deleted. This effect is proposed to result from C-terminus mediated stabilization of the SSB tetramer, in which the C-termini interact with the DNA-binding cores of adjacent subunits. NanoESI-MS was also used to examine DNA binding to the SSB tetramer. Binding of single-stranded oligonucleotides [one molecule of (dT)(70), one molecule of (dT)(35), or two molecules of (dT)(35)] was found to prevent SSB subunit exchange. Transfer of SSB tetramers between discrete oligonucleotides was also observed and is consistent with predictions from solution-phase studies, suggesting that SSB-DNA complexes can be reliably analyzed by ESI mass spectrometry.
Double-stranded (ds) DNA contains all of the necessary genetic information, although practical use of this information requires unwinding of the duplex DNA. DNA unwinding creates single-stranded (ss) DNA intermediates that serve as templates for myriad cellular functions. Exposure of ssDNA presents several problems to the cell. First, ssDNA is thermodynamically less stable than dsDNA, which leads to spontaneous formation of duplex secondary structures that impede genome maintenance processes. Second, relative to dsDNA, ssDNA is hypersensitive to chemical and nucleolytic attacks that can cause damage to the genome. Cells deal with these potential problems by encoding specialized ssDNA-binding proteins (SSBs) that bind to and stabilize ssDNA structures required for essential genomic processes.
In this chapter, we compare and contrast the biophysical properties of two important classes of nonsequence-specific nucleic
acid binding proteins: single-stranded DNA binding proteins (SSBs) from bacteriophages and nucleocapsid proteins (NCs) from
retroviruses. The SSBs comprise the primary noncatalytic component of the DNA replication machinery, functioning to bind and
protect all available single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) at the DNA replication fork. The NC proteins are necessary components of
the RNA reverse transcription complex, playing roles analogous to those of SSBs in DNA replication. The primary function of
NC is to facilitate RNA and DNA refolding into low-energy conformations, a property referred to as nucleic acid chaperone
activity. This function is necessary for almost every step of retroviral reverse transcription. Application of single molecule
DNA force spectroscopy methods has advanced the characterization of bacteriophage SSB and retroviral NC interactions with
single-stranded (ss) and double-stranded (ds) DNA molecules beyond what was known from conventional solution studies. By applying
single molecule techniques to wild type and mutant NC and SSB proteins from several biological systems, we have been able
to illustrate a continuous spectrum of properties that distinguish proteins as effective nucleic acid chaperones or ssDNA
stabilizers.
The advent of new technologies allowing the study of single biological molecules continues to have a major impact on studies of interacting systems as well as enzyme reactions. These approaches (fluorescence, optical, and magnetic tweezers), in combination with ensemble methods, have been particularly useful for mechanistic studies of protein-nucleic acid interactions and enzymes that function on nucleic acids. We review progress in the use of single-molecule methods to observe and perturb the activities of proteins and enzymes that function on flexible single-stranded DNA. These include single-stranded DNA binding proteins, recombinases (RecA/Rad51), and helicases/translocases that operate as motor proteins and play central roles in genome maintenance. We emphasize methods that have been used to detect and study the movement of these proteins (both ATP-dependent directional and random movement) along the single-stranded DNA and the mechanistic and functional information that can result from detailed analysis of such movement.
The single-stranded-nucleic acid binding (SSB) protein superfamily includes proteins encoded by different organisms from Bacteria and their phages to Eukaryotes. SSB proteins share common structural characteristics and have been suggested to descend from an ancestor polypeptide. However, as other proteins involved in DNA replication, bacterial SSB proteins are clearly different from those found in Archaea and Eukaryotes. It was proposed that the corresponding genes in the phage genomes were transferred from the bacterial hosts. Recently new SSB proteins encoded by the virulent lactococcal bacteriophages (Orf14(bIL67)-like proteins) have been identified and characterized structurally and biochemically.
This study focused on the determination of phylogenetic relationships between Orf14(bIL67)-like proteins and other SSBs. We have performed a large scale phylogenetic analysis and pairwise sequence comparisons of SSB proteins from different phyla. The results show that, in remarkable contrast to other phage SSBs, the Orf14(bIL67)-like proteins form a distinct, self-contained and well supported phylogenetic group connected to the archaeal SSBs. Functional studies demonstrated that, despite the structural and amino acid sequence differences from bacterial SSBs, Orf14(bIL67) protein complements the conditional lethal ssb-1 mutation of Escherichia coli.
Here we identified for the first time a group of phages encoded SSBs which are clearly distinct from their bacterial counterparts. All methods supported the recognition of these phage proteins as a new family within the SSB superfamily. Our findings suggest that unlike other phages, the virulent lactococcal phages carry ssb genes that were not acquired from their hosts, but transferred from an archaeal genome. This represents a unique example of a horizontal gene transfer between Archaea and bacterial phages.
The mitochondrial single-stranded DNA-binding protein (mtSSB) is believed to coordinate the functions of DNA polymerase γ
(pol γ) and the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) helicase at the mtDNA replication fork. We generated five variants of the human
mtSSB bearing mutations in amino acid residues specific to metazoans that map on the protein surface, removed from the single-stranded
DNA (ssDNA) binding groove. Although the mtSSB variants bound ssDNA with only slightly different affinities, they exhibited
distinct capacities to stimulate the DNA polymerase activity of human pol γ and the DNA unwinding activity of human mtDNA
helicase in vitro. Interestingly, we observed that the variants with defects in stimulating pol γ had unaltered capacities to stimulate the
mtDNA helicase; at the same time, variants showing reduced stimulation of the mtDNA helicase activity promoted DNA synthesis
by pol γ similarly to the wild-type mtSSB. The overexpression of the equivalent variants of Drosophila melanogaster mtSSB in S2 cells in culture caused mtDNA depletion under conditions of mitochondrial homeostasis. Furthermore, we observed
more severe reduction of mtDNA copy number upon expression of these proteins during recovery from treatment with ethidium
bromide, when mtDNA replication is stimulated in vivo. Our findings suggest that mtSSB uses distinct structural elements to interact functionally with its mtDNA replisome partners
and to promote proper mtDNA replication in animal cells.
Publisher Summary X-ray data can be collected with zero-, one-, and two-dimensional detectors, zero-dimensional (single counter) being the simplest and two-dimensional the most efficient in terms of measuring diffracted X-rays in all directions. To analyze the single-crystal diffraction data collected with these detectors, several computer programs have been developed. Two-dimensional detectors and related software are now predominantly used to measure and integrate diffraction from single crystals of biological macromolecules. Macromolecular crystallography is an iterative process. To monitor the progress, the HKL package provides two tools: (1) statistics, both weighted (χ 2 ) and unweighted (R-merge), where the Bayesian reasoning and multicomponent error model helps obtain proper error estimates and (2) visualization of the process, which helps an operator to confirm that the process of data reduction, including the resulting statistics, is correct and allows the evaluation of the problems for which there are no good statistical criteria. Visualization also provides confidence that the point of diminishing returns in data collection and reduction has been reached. At that point, the effort should be directed to solving the structure. The methods presented in the chapter have been applied to solve a large variety of problems, from inorganic molecules with 5 A unit cell to rotavirus of 700 A diameters crystallized in 700 × 1000 × 1400 A cell.
The PROCHECK suite of programs provides a detailed check on the stereochemistry of a protein structure. Its outputs comprise a number of plots in PostScript format and a comprehensive residue-by-residue listing. These give an assessment of the overall quality of the structure as compared with well refined structures of the same resolution and also highlight regions that may need further investigation. The PROCHECK programs are useful for assessing the quality not only of protein structures in the process of being solved but also of existing structures and of those being modelled on known structures.
Bacteriophage T7 gene 2.5 protein has been shown to interact with T7 DNA polymerase (the complex of T7 gene 5 protein and Escherichia coli thioredoxin) by affinity chromatography and fluorescence emission anisotropy. T7 DNA polymerase binds specifically to a resin coupled to gene 2.5 protein and elutes from the resin when the ionic strength of the buffer is raised to 250 mM NaCl. In contrast, T7 gene 5 protein alone binds more weakly to gene 2.5 protein, eluting when the ionic strength of the buffer is 50 mM NaCl. Thioredoxin does not bind to gene 2.5 protein. Steady-state fluorescence emission anisotropy gives a dissociation constant of 1.1 +/- 0.2 microM for the complex of gene 2.5 protein and T7 DNA polymerase, with a ratio of gene 2.5 protein to T7 DNA polymerase in the complex of 1:1. Nanosecond emission anisotropic analysis suggests that the complex contains one monomer each of gene 2.5 protein, gene 5 protein, and thioredoxin. The ability of T7 gene 2.5 protein to stimulate the activity and processivity of T7 DNA polymerase is compared with the ability of three other single-stranded DNA-binding proteins: E. coli single-stranded DNA-binding protein, T4 gene 32 protein, and E. coli recA protein. All except E. coli recA protein stimulate the activity and processivity of T7 DNA polymerase; E. coli recA protein inhibits these activities.
Bacteriophage T7 gene 2.5 protein has been purified to homogeneity from cells overexpressing its gene. Native gene 2.5 protein consists of a dimer of two identical subunits of molecular weight 25,562. Gene 2.5 protein binds specifically to single-stranded DNA with a stoichiometry of approximately 7 nucleotides bound per monomer of gene 2.5 protein; binding appears to be noncooperative. Electron microscopic analysis shows that gene 2.5 protein is able to disrupt the secondary structure of single-stranded DNA. The single-stranded DNA is extended into a chain of gene 2.5 protein dimers bound along the DNA. In fluorescence quenching and nitrocellulose filter binding assays, the binding constants of gene 2.5 protein to single-stranded DNA are 1.2 x 10(6) M-1 and 3.8 x 10(6) M-1, respectively. Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA-binding protein and phage T4 gene 32 protein bind to single-stranded DNA more tightly by a factor of 25. Fluorescence spectroscopy suggests that tyrosine residue(s), but not tryptophan residues, on gene 2.5 protein interacts with single-stranded DNA.
In this paper we compare the effect of single-stranded DNA-binding proteins of bacteriophage T7 (gene 2.5 protein) and of Escherichia coli (SSB) at the T7 replication fork. The T7 gene 4 protein acts processively as helicase to promote leading strand synthesis and distributively as primase to initiate lagging strand synthesis by T7 DNA polymerase. On a nicked double-stranded template, the formation of a replication fork requires partial strand displacement so that gene 4 protein may bind to the displaced strand and unwind the helix catalytically. Both the T7 gene 2.5 protein and E. coli SSB act stoichiometrically to promote this initial strand displacement step. Once initiated, processive leading strand synthesis is not greatly stimulated by the single-stranded DNA-binding proteins. However, the T7 gene 2.5 protein, but not E. coli SSB, increases the frequency of initiation of lagging strand synthesis by greater than 10-fold. The results suggest a specific interaction of the T7 gene 2.5 protein with the T7 replication apparatus.
Reactions at the replication fork of bacteriophage T7 have been reconstituted in vitro on a preformed replication fork. A minimum of three proteins is required to catalyze leading and lagging strand synthesis. The T7 gene 4 protein, which exists in two forms of molecular weight 56,000 and 63,000, provides helicase and primase activities. A tight complex of the T7 gene 5 protein and Escherichia coli thioredoxin provides DNA polymerase activity. Gene 4 protein and DNA polymerase catalyze processive leading strand synthesis. Gene 4 protein molecules serving as helicase remain bound to the template as leading strand synthesis proceeds greater than 40 kilobases. Primer synthesis for lagging strand synthesis is catalyzed by additional gene 4 protein molecules that undergo multiple association/dissociation steps to catalyze multiple rounds of primer synthesis. The smaller molecular weight form of gene 4 protein has been purified from an equimolar mixture of both forms. Removal of the large form results in the loss of primase activity but not of helicase activity. Submolar amounts of the large form present in a mixture of both forms are sufficient to restore high specific activity of primase characteristic of an equimolar mixture of both forms. These results suggest that the gene 4 primase is an oligomer which is composed of both molecular weight forms. The large form may be the distributive component of the primase which dissociates from the template after each round of primer synthesis.
There are now several well-documented SSBs from both prokaryotes and eukaryotes that function in replication, recombination, and repair; however, no "consensus" view of their interactions with ssDNA has emerged. Although these proteins all bind preferentially and with high affinity to ssDNA, their modes of binding to ssDNA in vitro, including whether they bind with cooperativity, often differ dramatically. This point is most clear upon comparing the properties of the phage T4 gene 32 protein and the E. coli SSB protein. Depending on the solution conditions, Eco SSB can bind ssDNA in several different modes, which display quite different properties, including cooperativity. The wide range of interactions with ssDNA observed for Eco SSB is due principally to its tetrameric structure and the fact that each SSB protomer (subunit) can bind ssDNA. This reflects a major difference between Eco SSB and the T4 gene 32 protein, which binds DNA as a monomer and displays "unlimited" positive cooperativity in its binding to ssDNA. The Eco SSB tetramer can bind ssDNA with at least two different types of nearest-neighbor positive cooperativity ("limited" and "unlimited"), as well as negative cooperativity among the subunits within an individual tetramer. In fact, this latter property, which is dependent upon salt concentration and nucleotide base composition, is a major factor influencing whether ssDNA interacts with all four or only two SSB subunits, which in turn determines the type of intertetramer positive cooperativity. Hence, it is clear that the interactions of Eco SSB with ssDNA are quite different from those of T4 gene 32 protein, and the idea that all SSBs bind to ssDNA as does the T4 gene 32 protein must be amended. Although it is not yet known which of the Eco SSB-binding modes is functionally important in vivo, it is possible that some of the modes are used preferentially in different DNA metabolic processes. In any event, the vastly different properties of the Eco SSB-binding modes must be considered in studies of DNA replication, recombination, and repair in vitro. Since eukaryotic mitochondrial SSBs as well as SSBs encoded by prokaryotic conjugative plasmids are highly similar to Eco SSB, these proteins are likely to show similar complexities. However, based on their heterotrimeric subunit composition, the eukaryotic nuclear SSBs (RP-A proteins) are significantly different from either Eco SSB or T4 gene 32 proteins. Further subclassification of these proteins must await more detailed biochemical and biophysical studies.
The product of gene 2.5 protein of bacteriophage T7, a single-stranded DNA-binding protein, physically interacts with phage encoded DNA polymerase and primase/helicase proteins. A truncated gene 2.5 protein (GP2.5-delta 21C) was constructed by in vitro mutagenesis and lacks the 21 carboxyl-terminal amino acids found in wild-type gene 2.5 protein, 15 of which are acidic. GP2.5-delta 21C cannot substitute for wild-type gene 2.5 protein in vivo; the phage are not viable and exhibit less than 1% of the DNA synthesis observed in wild-type phage-infected cells. GP2.5-delta 21C has been purified to apparent homogeneity from cells overexpressing its cloned gene and has a conformation that differs from that of the wild-type gene 2.5 protein as judged by its circular dichroism spectra. Purified GP2.5-delta 21C retains its ability to bind to single-stranded DNA; the association constant of the protein for single-stranded DNA, determined by nitrocellulose filter binding, is 3.2 x 10(6) M-1 and is identical to that determined for wild-type gene 2.5 protein. However, GP2.5-delta 21C is a monomer in solution, whereas the wild-type protein exists as a dimer. GP2.5-delta 21C does not physically interact with T7 DNA polymerase as measured by affinity chromatography and fluorescent emission anisotropy. The mutant protein cannot stimulate T7 DNA polymerase activity on primed single-stranded DNA templates.
A novel method for differentiating between correctly and incorrectly determined regions of protein structures based on characteristic atomic interactions is described. Different types of atoms are distributed nonrandomly with respect to each other in proteins. Errors in model building lead to more randomized distributions of the different atom types, which can be distinguished from correct distributions by statistical methods.
Atoms are classified in one of three categories: carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and oxygen (O). This leads to six different combinations of pairwise noncovalently bonded interactions (CC, CN, CO, NN, NO, and OO). A quadratic error function is used to characterize the set of pairwise interactions from nine-residue sliding windows in a database of 96 reliable protein structures. Regions of candidate protein structures that are mistraced or misregistered can then be identified by analysis of the pattern of nonbonded interactions from each window.
Bacteriophage T7 gene 2.5 single-stranded DNA-binding protein and gene 4 DNA helicase together promote pairing of two homologous DNA molecules and subsequent polar branch migration (Kong, D., and Richardson, C. C. (1996) EMBO J. 15, 2010-2019). In this report, we show that gene 2.5 protein is not required for the initiation or propagation of strand transfer once a joint molecule has been formed between the two DNA partners, a reaction that is mediated by the gene 2.5 protein alone. A mutant gene 2.5 protein, gene 2.5-Delta21C protein, lacking 21 amino acid residues at its C terminus, cannot physically interact with gene 4 protein. Although it does bind to single-stranded DNA and promote the formation of joint molecule via homologous base pairing, subsequent strand transfer by gene 4 helicase is inhibited by the presence of the gene 2.5-Delta21C protein. Bacteriophage T4 gene 32 protein likewise inhibits T7 gene 4 protein-mediated strand transfer, whereas Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA-binding protein does not. The 63-kDa gene 4 protein of phage T7 is also a DNA primase in that it catalyzes the synthesis of oligonucleotides at specific sequences during translocation on single-stranded DNA. We find that neither the rate nor extent of strand transfer is significantly affected by concurrent primer synthesis. The bacteriophage T4 gene 41 helicase has been shown to catalyze polar branch migration after the T4 gene 59 helicase assembly protein loads the helicase onto joint molecules formed by the T4 UvsX and gene 32 proteins (Salinas, F., and Kodadek, T. (1995) Cell 82, 111-119). We find that gene 32 protein alone forms joint molecules between partially single-stranded homologous DNA partners and that subsequent branch migration requires this single-stranded DNA-binding protein in addition to the gene 41 helicase and the gene 59 helicase assembly protein. Similar to the strand transfer reaction, strand displacement DNA synthesis catalyzed by T4 DNA polymerase also requires the presence of gene 32 protein in addition to the gene 41 and 59 proteins.
The crystal structure of the tetrameric DNA-binding domain of the single-stranded DNA binding protein from Escherichia coli was determined at a resolution of 2.9 A using multiwavelength anomalous dispersion. Each monomer in the tetramer is topologically similar to an oligomer-binding fold. Two monomers each contribute three beta-strands to a single six-stranded beta-sheet to form a dimer. Two dimer-dimer interfaces are observed within the crystal. One of these stabilizes the tetramer in solution. The other interface promotes a superhelical structure within the crystal that may reflect tetramer-tetramer interactions involved in the positive cooperative binding of the single-stranded DNA-binding protein to single-stranded DNA.
A new software suite, called Crystallography & NMR System (CNS), has been developed for macromolecular structure determination by X-ray crystallography or solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In contrast to existing structure-determination programs, the architecture of CNS is highly flexible, allowing for extension to other structure-determination methods, such as electron microscopy and solid-state NMR spectroscopy. CNS has a hierarchical structure: a high-level hypertext markup language (HTML) user interface, task-oriented user input files, module files, a symbolic structure-determination language (CNS language), and low-level source code. Each layer is accessible to the user. The novice user may just use the HTML interface, while the more advanced user may use any of the other layers. The source code will be distributed, thus source-code modification is possible. The CNS language is sufficiently powerful and flexible that many new algorithms can be easily implemented in the CNS language without changes to the source code. The CNS language allows the user to perform operations on data structures, such as structure factors, electron-density maps, and atomic properties. The power of the CNS language has been demonstrated by the implementation of a comprehensive set of crystallographic procedures for phasing, density modification and refinement. User-friendly task-oriented input files are available for nearly all aspects of macromolecular structure determination by X-ray crystallography and solution NMR.
Replication protein A (RPA), the eukaryote single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB), is a heterotrimer. The largest subunit, RPA70, which harbours the major DNA-binding activity, has two DNA-binding domains that each adopt an OB-fold. The complex of the two smaller subunits, RPA32 and RPA14, has weak DNA-binding activity but the mechanism of DNA binding is unknown. We have determined the crystal structure of the proteolytic core of RPA32 and RPA14, which consists of the central two-thirds of RPA32 and the entire RPA14 subunit. The structure revealed that RPA14 and the central part of RPA32 are structural homologues. Each subunit contains a central OB-fold domain, which also resembles the DNA-binding domains in RPA70; an N-terminal extension that interacts with the central OB-fold domain; and a C-terminal helix that mediate heterodimerization via a helix-helix interaction. The OB-fold of RPA32, but not RPA14, possesses additional similarity to the RPA70 DNA-binding domains, supporting a DNA-binding role for RPA32. The discovery of a third and fourth OB-fold in RPA suggests that the quaternary structure of SSBs, which in Bacteria and Archaea are also tetramers of OB-folds, is conserved in evolution. The structure also suggests a mechanism for RPA trimer formation.
The structure of the homotetrameric DNA binding domain of the single stranded DNA binding protein from Escherichia coli (Eco SSB) bound to two 35-mer single stranded DNAs was determined to a resolution of 2.8 A. This structure describes the vast network of interactions that results in the extensive wrapping of single stranded DNA around the SSB tetramer and suggests a structural basis for its various binding modes.
A likelihood-based approach to density modification is developed that can be applied to a wide variety of cases where some information about the electron density at various points in the unit cell is available. The key to the approach consists of developing likelihood functions that represent the probability that a particular value of electron density is consistent with prior expectations for the electron density at that point in the unit cell. These likelihood functions are then combined with likelihood functions based on experimental observations and with others containing any prior knowledge about structure factors to form a combined likelihood function for each structure factor. A simple and general approach to maximizing the combined likelihood function is developed. It is found that this likelihood-based approach yields greater phase improvement in model and real test cases than either conventional solvent flattening and histogram matching or a recent reciprocal-space solvent-flattening procedure [Terwilliger (1999), Acta Cryst. D55, 1863-1871].
Trypanothione reductase is an FAD-dependent disulfide oxidoreductase which catalyses the reduction of trypanothione using NADPH as co-factor. The enzyme is unique to protozoan parasites from the genera Trypanosoma and Leishmania and is an important target for the design of improved antitrypanocidal drugs. We present details of the structure of trypanothione reductase from Crithidia fasciculata solved by molecular replacement, using human glutathione reductase as a search model, and refined to an R factor of 16.1% with data between 8.0 and 2.6 A resolution. The model comprises two subunits (one containing 487 residues, the other 486), an FAD prosthetic group, plus 392 solvent molecules. The last four C-terminal residues are not seen in either subunit and the density is poor for the N-terminal residue of subunit B. The model has a root-mean-square deviation from ideality of 0.016 A for bond lengths and 3.2 degrees for bond angles. Each subunit was independently refined in the latter stages of the analysis but the subunits remain similar as indicated by the root-mean-square deviation of 0.35 A for C(alpha) atoms. Trypanothione reductase has 36% sequence identity with human glutathione reductase and the root-mean-square deviation between the 462 C(alpha) atoms in the secondary structural units common to the two proteins is 1.1 A. However, there are large differences in the loop regions and significant shifts in the orientation of the four domains within each subunit. Domain II, which binds the dinucleotide co-factor, and domain IV, which forms the interface between the two subunits, are both rotated by approximately 5 degrees with respect to domain I, which binds the FAD moiety, when compared with glutathione reductase. Crystals of trypanothione reductase have been soaked in the dinucleotide co-factor NADPH and N(1)-glutathionylspermidine disulfide substrate and the structure of the resulting complex determined at 2.8 A resolution. Strong density is observed for the adenosine end of the co-factor which forms many charged interactions with the protein though the density for the nicotinamide moiety is more diffuse. The mode of binding indicates that NADP is bound to the enzyme in a similar conformation to that observed with human glutathione reductase.
With a size of 372 kDa, the F(1) ATPase particle is the largest asymmetric structure solved to date. Isomorphous differences arising from reacting the crystals with methyl-mercury nitrate at two concentrations allowed the structure determination. Careful data collection and data processing were essential in this process as well as a new form of electron-density modification, 'solvent flipping'. The most important feature of this new procedure is that the electron density in the solvent region is inverted rather than set to a constant value, as in conventional solvent flattening. All non-standard techniques and variations on new techniques which were employed in the structure determination are described.
The CCP4 (Collaborative Computational Project, number 4) program suite is a collection of programs and associated data and subroutine libraries which can be used for macromolecular structure determination by X-ray crystallography. The suite is designed to be flexible, allowing users a number of methods of achieving their aims and so there may be more than one program to cover each function. The programs are written mainly in standard Fortran77. They are from a wide variety of sources but are connected by standard data file formats. The package has been ported to all the major platforms under both Unix and VMS. The suite is distributed by anonymous ftp from Daresbury Laboratory and is widely used throughout the world.
We demonstrate in this work that the surface tension, water-organic solvent, transfer-free energies and the thermodynamics of melting of linear alkanes provide fundamental insights into the nonpolar driving forces for protein folding and protein binding reactions. We first develop a model for the curvature dependence of the hydrophobic effect and find that the macroscopic concept of interfacial free energy is applicable at the molecular level. Application of a well-known relationship involving surface tension and adhesion energies reveals that dispersion forces play little or no net role in hydrophobic interactions; rather, the standard model of disruption of water structure (entropically driven at 25 degrees C) is correct. The hydrophobic interaction is found, in agreement with the classical picture, to provide a major driving force for protein folding. Analysis of the melting behavior of hydrocarbons reveals that close packing of the protein interior makes only a small free energy contribution to folding because the enthalpic gain resulting from increased dispersion interactions (relative to the liquid) is countered by the freezing of side chain motion. The identical effect should occur in association reactions, which may provide an enormous simplification in the evaluation of binding energies. Protein binding reactions, even between nearly planar or concave/convex interfaces, are found to have effective hydrophobicities considerably smaller than the prediction based on macroscopic surface tension. This is due to the formation of a concave collar region that usually accompanies complex formation. This effect may preclude the formation of complexes between convex surfaces.
Map interpretation remains a critical step in solving the structure of a macromolecule. Errors introduced at this early stage may persist throughout crystallographic refinement and result in an incorrect structure. The normally quoted crystallographic residual is often a poor description for the quality of the model. Strategies and tools are described that help to alleviate this problem. These simplify the model-building process, quantify the goodness of fit of the model on a per-residue basis and locate possible errors in peptide and side-chain conformations.
The primary sequences were compared among several proteins: gene product 5 protein (GP5) from phage M13; PIKE from phage Ike; gene product 32 protein (GP32) from phage T4; RecA, SSB and SSF from Escherichia coli. These proteins bind strongly and cooperatively to single-stranded DNA with no sequence specificity. GP5 is the smallest in this group and its three-dimensional structure is well-characterized. Using the entire sequence of GP5 as a template we searched for the regions in other single-stranded DNA binding proteins yielding the best alignment of aromatic and basic residues. The identified domains show alignment of five aromatic and four charged residues in these proteins. The domains in PIKE, GP32 and RecA exhibit statistically significant sequence homology with GP5. These observations strongly favor the hypothesis that the protein-single-stranded DNA complex in this class of proteins is stabilized by the stacking interaction of the aromatic residues with the bases of the DNA, and by the electrostatic interaction of the basic residues with the phosphate groups of the DNA. We also find that the DNA binding domains of these proteins have similar secondary structural preferences, mainly beta structures. The triple-stranded beta-sheet may be a common motif in the DNA binding domains of these proteins.
Four distinct binding modes for the interaction of Escherichia coli single-strand binding (SSB) protein with single-stranded (ss) DNA have been identified on the basis of quantitative titrations that monitor the quenching of the SSB protein fluorescence upon binding to the homopolynucleotide poly(dT) over a range of MgCl2 and NaCl concentrations at 25 and 37 degrees C. This is the first observation of multiple binding modes for a single protein binding to DNA. These results extend previous studies performed in NaCl (25 degrees C, pH 8.1), in which two distinct SSB-ss DNA binding modes possessing site sizes of 33 and 65 nucleotides per bound SSB tetramer were observed [Lohman, T.M., & Overman, L. B. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 3594-3603]. Each of these binding modes differs in the number of nucleotides occluded upon interaction with ss DNA (i.e., site size). Along with the previously observed modes with site sizes of 35 +/- 2 and 65 +/- 3 nucleotides per tetramer, a third distinct binding mode, at 25 degrees C, has been identified, possessing a site size of 56 +/- 3 nucleotides per bound SSB tetramer, which is stable over a wide range of MgCl2 concentrations. At 37 degrees C, a fourth binding mode is observed, possessing a site size of 40 +/- 2 nucleotides per tetramer, although this mode is observable only over a small range of salt concentration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
In this paper we summarize a series of thermodynamic, and preliminary kinetic, studies on the molecular details and specificity of interaction of phage T4-coded gene 32-protein (GP32) with nucleic acid lattices. It is shown that the binding of GP32 to short (l = 2--8 residues) oligonucleotides is essentially independent of base composition and sugar-type, as well as of salt concentration. In contrast, cooperative (continuous) or isolated binding of GP32 to single-stranded polynucleotides is base and sugar composition-dependent (binding is tighter to DNA than to RNA) and highly dependent on salt concentrations. Binding constants (K), cooperativity parameters (w), and binding site sizes (n) are determined for binding to various nucleic acid lattices under a variety of environmental conditions. These results are used to show that GP32 can bind to nucleic acid lattices in two different conformations, and to characterize the molecular details of these binding species. Further insight into the molecular origins of binding cooperativity is obtained by determining these thermodynamic parameters also for the specifically proteolytically degraded GP32 fragments GP32 I (C-terminal peptide removed) and GP32 III (C- and N-terminal peptides removed). It is also shown that these GP32-nucleic acid binding measurements can be used to provide a quantitative molecular interpretation of the sequential (competitive) binding equilibria involved in the autogenous translational regulation of GP32 synthesis (Lemaire et al., 1978, J. Mol. Biol. 126:73, 1978), and to illustrate some general principles of the development of interactional specificity in cooperatively binding protein-nucleic acid complexes. Preliminary experiments have also been carried out on the kinetics of GP32 association to, and dissociation from, single-stranded nucleic acid lattices. In particular, fluorescence stopped-flow measurements of the dissociation of GP32 from such lattices as a function of lattice saturation (and protein cluster size) can be interpreted to suggest that the protein may translocate ("slide") on the lattice before dissociation, These studies permit an approach to possible rates and mechanisms of such translocation events.
In this paper we examine molecular details of the interaction of bacteriophage T4-coded gene 32 protein with oligo- and polynucleotides. It is shown that the binding affinity (Koligo) of oligonucleotides of length (l) from two to eight nucleotide residues for gene 32 protein is essentially independent of base composition or sugar type. This binding also shows little dependence on salt concentration and on oligonucleotide length; even the expected statistical length factor in Koligo is not observed, suggesting that binding occurs at the end of the oligonucleotide lattice and that the oligonucleotide is not free to move across the binding site. Co-operative (contiguous) or isolated binding of gene 32 protein to polynucleotides is very different; here binding is highly salt dependent ( and essentially stoichiometric at salt concentrations less than ~0.2 m (for poly(rA)). Binding becomes much weaker and the binding isotherms appear typically co-operative (sigmoid) in protein concentration at higher salt concentrations. We demonstrate, by fitting the co-operative binding isotherms to theoretical plots at various salt concentrations and also by measuring binding at very low protein binding density (ν), that the entire salt dependence of Kω is in the intrinsic binding constant (K); the co-operativity parameter (ω) is essentially independent of salt concentration. Furthermore, by determining titration curves in the presence of salts containing a series of different anions and cations, it is shown that the major part of the salt dependence of the gene 32 protein-polynucleotide interaction is due to anion (rather than to cation) displacement effects. Binding parameters of oligonucleotides of length sufficient to bind two or more gene 32 protein monomers show behavior intermediate between the oligonucleotide and the polynucleotide binding modes. These different binding modes probably reflect different conformations of the protein; the results are analyzed to produce a preliminary molecular model of the interactions of gene 32 protein with nucleic acids in its different binding modes.
The single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein gp32 from bacteriophage T4 is essential for T4 DNA replication, recombination and repair. In vivo gp32 binds ssDNA as the replication fork advances and stimulates replisome processivity and accuracy by a factor of several hundred. Gp32 binding affects nearly every major aspect of DNA metabolism. Among its important functions are: (1) configuring ssDNA templates for efficient use by the replisome including DNA polymerase; (2) melting out adventitious secondary structures; (3) protecting exposed ssDNA from nucleases; and (4) facilitating homologous recombination by binding ssDNA during strand displacement. We have determined the crystal structure of the gp32 DNA binding domain complexed to ssDNA at 2.2 A resolution. The ssDNA binding cleft comprises regions from three structural subdomains and includes a positively charged surface that runs parallel to a series of hydrophobic pockets formed by clusters of aromatic side chains. Although only weak electron density is seen for the ssDNA, it indicates that the phosphate backbone contacts an electropositive cleft of the protein, placing the bases in contact with the hydrophobic pockets. The DNA mobility implied by the weak electron density may reflect the role of gp32 as a sequence-independent ssDNA chaperone allowing the largely unstructured ssDNA to slide freely through the cleft.
High resolution structures for the complexes formed by the immunosuppressive agents FK506 and rapamycin with the human immunophilin FKBP-12 have been determined by X-ray diffraction. FKBP-12 has a novel fold comprised of a five-stranded beta-sheet wrapping around a short alpha-helix with an overall conical shape. Both FK506 and rapamycin bind in the cavity defined by the beta-sheet, alpha-helix and three loops. Both FK506 and rapamycin bind in similar fashions with a set of hydrogen bonds and an unusual carbonyl binding pocket. Bound FK506 has a different conformation than free (crystalline) FK506 while rapamycin's bound conformation is virtually identical to that of unbound rapamycin. FKBP-12 is a peptidyl-prolyl isomerase (PPIase), and the structures of the complexes suggest ways in which this catalytic activity could operate. The different complexes are active in suppressing different steps of T cell activation, an activity seemingly unconnected with the PPIase activity.
The product of gene 2.5 of bacteriophage T7, a single-stranded DNA binding protein, physically interacts with the phage-encoded gene 5 protein (DNA polymerase) and gene 4 proteins (helicase and primase) and stimulates their activities. Genetic analysis of T7 phage defective in gene 2.5 shows that the gene 2.5 protein is essential for T7 DNA replication and growth. T7 phages that contain null mutants of gene 2.5 were constructed by homologous recombination. These gene 2.5 null mutants contain either a deletion of gene 2.5 (T7 delta 2.5) or an insertion into gene 2.5 and cannot grow in Escherichia coli (efficiency of plating, < 10(-8)). After infection of E. coli with T7 delta 2.5, host DNA synthesis is shut off, and phage DNA synthesis is reduced to < 1% of phage DNA synthesis in wild-type T7-infected E. coli cells as measured by incorporation of [3H]thymidine. In contrast, RNA synthesis is essentially normal in T7 delta 2.5-infected cells. The defects in growth and DNA replication are overcome by wild-type gene 2.5 protein expressed from a plasmid harboring the T7 gene 2.5.
SETOR is designed to exploit the hardware lighting capabilities of the IRIS-4D series graphics workstations to render high-quality raster images of macromolecules that can undergo rotation and translation interactively. SETOR can render standard all-atom and backbone models of proteins or nucleic acids, but focuses on displaying protein molecules by highlighting elements of secondary structure. The program has a very friendly user interface that minimizes the number of input files by allowing the user to interactively edit parameters, such as colors, lighting coefficients, and descriptions of secondary structure via mouse activated dialogue boxes. The choice of polymer chain representation can be varied from standard vector models and van der Waal models, to a B-spline fit of polymer backbones that yields a smooth ribbon that approximates the polymer chain, to strict Cardinal splines that interpolate the smoothest curve possible that will precisely follow the polymer chain. The program provides a photograph mode, save/restore facilities, and efficient generation of symmetry-related molecules and packing diagrams. Additionally, SETOR is designed to accept commands and model coordinates from the standard input stream, and to control standard output. Ancillary programs provide a method to interactively edit hardcopy plots of all vector and many solid models generated by SETOR, and to produce standard HPGL or PostScript files. Examples of figures rendered by SETOR of a number of macromolecules of various classes are presented.
A novel folding motif has been observed in four different proteins which bind oligonucleotides or oligosaccharides: staphylococcal nuclease, anticodon binding domain of asp-tRNA synthetase and B-subunits of heat-labile enterotoxin and verotoxin-1. The common fold of the four proteins, which we call the OB-fold, has a five-stranded beta-sheet coiled to form a closed beta-barrel. This barrel is capped by an alpha-helix located between the third and fourth strands. The barrel-helix frameworks can be superimposed with r.m.s. deviations of 1.4-2.2 A, but no similarities can be observed in the corresponding alignment of the four sequences. The nucleotide or sugar binding sites, known for three of the four proteins, are located in nearly the same position in each protein: on the side surface of the beta-barrel, where three loops come together. Here we describe the determinants of the OB-fold, based on an analysis of all four structures. These proposed determinants explain how very different sequences adopt the OB-fold. They also suggest a reinterpretation of the controversial structure of gene 5 ssDNA binding protein, which exhibits some topological and functional similarities with the OB-fold proteins.
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3D domain swapping is a mechanism for forming oligomeric proteins from their monomers. In 3D domain swapping, one domain of a monomeric protein is replaced by the same domain from an identical protein chain. The result is an intertwined dimer or higher oligomer, with one domain of each subunit replaced by the identical domain from another subunit. The swapped "domain" can be as large as an entire tertiary globular domain, or as small as an alpha-helix or a strand of a beta-sheet. Examples of 3D domain swapping are reviewed that suggest domain swapping can serve as a mechanism for functional interconversion between monomers and oligomers, and that domain swapping may serve as a mechanism for evolution of some oligomeric proteins. Domain-swapped proteins present examples of a single protein chain folding into two distinct structures.
Two proteins encoded by bacteriophage T7, the gene 2.5 single-stranded DNA binding protein and the gene 4 helicase, mediate homologous DNA strand exchange. Gene 2.5 protein stimulates homologous base pairing of two DNA molecules containing complementary single-stranded regions. The formation of a joint molecule consisting of circular, single-stranded M13 DNA, annealed to homologous linear, duplex DNA having 3'- or 5'-single-stranded termini of approximately 100 nucleotides requires stoichiometric amounts of gene 2.5 protein. In the presence of gene 4 helicase, strand transfer proceeds at a rate of > 120 nucleotides/s in a polar 5' to 3' direction with respect to the invading strand, resulting in the production of circular duplex M13 DNA. Strand transfer is coupled to the hydrolysis of a nucleoside 5'-triphosphate. The reaction is dependent on specific interactions between gene 2.5 protein and gene 4 protein.
This chapter describes the Dali method, which is a general approach for aligning a pair of proteins represented by two-dimensional matrices. The implementation of prefilters to speed up database searches has enabled us to provide Internet access using World Wide Web. Distance matrices are useful in structure comparison because similar 3-D structures have similar interresidues distances. Imagine a (transparent) distance map of one protein placed on top of that of another protein and then moved vertically and horizontally. In the original Dali method, matches are built up by combining small submatrices with similar distance patterns and using a Monte Carlo algorithm for optimization. The approach was shown to be robust and to yield accurate alignments. This method empirically determined the background strength of similarity as a function of chain length. The statistical significance of a database hit relative to the background is reported as a Z score (score minus mean divided by standard deviation).
The single-stranded-DNA-binding proteins (SSBs) are essential for DNA function in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, mitochondria, phages and viruses. The structures of four SSBs have been solved, but the molecular details of the interaction of SSBs with DNA remain speculative. We report here the crystal structure at 2.4 A resolution of the single-stranded-DNA-binding domain of human replication protein A (RPA) bound to DNA. Replication protein A is a heterotrimeric SSB that is highly conserved in eukaryotes. The largest subunit, RPA70, binds to single-stranded (ss)DNA and mediates interactions with many cellular and viral proteins. The DNA-binding domain, which lies in the middle of RPA70, comprises two structurally homologous subdomains oriented in tandem. The ssDNA lies in a channel that extends from one subdomain to the other. The structure of each RPA70 subdomain is similar to those of the bacteriophage SSBs, indicating that the mechanism of ssDNA-binding is conserved.
We solved the crystal structure of the homotetrameric single-stranded DNA binding (SSB) protein from human mitochondria at a resolution of 2.4 A. The tetramer is formed by two dimers interacting head-to-head and shows D2 symmetry. Sequence-related tetrameric SSB proteins occur in prokaryotes and eukaryotic mitochondria; this is the first report of an atomic resolution structure of this type of protein. Using biochemical data and analysis of sequence homologies, we were able to correlate the functional properties with structure. We propose that ssDNA wraps around the tetrameric HsmtSSB protein through electropositive channels guided by flexible loops.
In bacteriophage T7 the gene 2.5 single-stranded DNA-binding protein and the gene 4 helicase together promote the annealing of homologous regions of two DNA partners to form a joint molecule and subsequent strand transfer. In this reaction T7 gene 2.5 protein is essential for joint molecule formation, but is not required for T7 gene 4 protein-mediated strand transfer. T7 gene 4 helicase alone is able to mediate strand transfer, provided that a joint molecule is available. The present paper shows that, in addition, strand transfer proceeds at a normal rate even when both DNA partners contain ultraviolet-induced pyrimidine dimers (0.6 dimer per 100 nt). An insert of a relatively long (842-nt) segment of nonhomologous DNA in the single-stranded DNA partner has no effect on strand transfer, whereas its presence in the double-stranded partner prevents strand transfer. A short insert (37 nt) can be tolerated in either partner. Thus, DNA helicase is able to participate in recombinational DNA repair through its role in strand exchange, providing a pathway distinct from nucleotide excision repair.
The crystal structure of the DNA-binding domain of E. coli SSB (EcoSSB) has been determined to a resolution of 2.5 A. This is the first reported structure of a prokaryotic SSB. The structure of the DNA-binding domain of the E. coli protein is compared to that of the human mitochondrial SSB (HsmtSSB). In spite of the relatively low sequence identity between them, the two proteins display a high degree of structural similarity. EcoSSB crystallises with two dimers in the asymmetric unit, unlike HsmtSSB which contains only a dimer. This is probably a consequence of the different polypeptide chain lengths in the EcoSSB heterotetramer. Crucial differences in the dimer-dimer interface of EcoSSB may account for the inability of EcoSSB and HsmtSSB to form cross-species heterotetramers, in contrast to many bacterial SSBs.
The gene 2.5 single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding protein of bacteriophage T7 is essential for T7 DNA replication and recombination. Earlier studies have shown that the COOH-terminal 21 amino acids of the gene 2.5 protein are essential for specific protein-protein interaction with T7 DNA polymerase and T7 DNA helicase/primase. A truncated gene 2.5 protein, in which the acidic COOH-terminal 21 amino acid residues are deleted no longer supports T7 growth, forms dimers, or interacts with either T7 DNA polymerase or T7 helicase/primase in vitro. The single-stranded DNA-binding protein encoded by Escherichia coli (SSB protein) and phage T4 (gene 32 protein) also have acidic COOH-terminal domains, but neither protein can substitute for T7 gene 2.5 protein in vivo. To determine if the specificity for the protein-protein interaction involving gene 2.5 protein resides in its COOH terminus, we replaced the COOH-terminal region of the gene 2.5 protein with the COOH-terminal region from either E. coli SSB protein or T4 gene 32 protein. Both of the two chimeric proteins can substitute for T7 gene 2.5 protein to support the growth of phage T7. The two chimeric proteins, like gene 2.5 protein, form dimers and interact with T7 DNA polymerase and helicase/primase to stimulate their activities. In contrast, chimeric proteins in which the COOH terminus of T7 gene 2.5 protein replaced the COOH terminus of E. coli SSB protein or T4 gene 32 protein cannot support the growth of phage T7. We conclude that an acidic COOH terminus of the gene 2.5 protein is essential for protein-protein interaction, but it alone cannot account for the specificity of the interaction.
The coordinated synthesis of both leading and lagging DNA strands is thought to involve a dimeric DNA polymerase and a looping of the lagging strand so that both strands can be synthesized in the same direction. We have constructed a minicircle with a replication fork that permits an assessment of the stoichiometry of the proteins and a measurement of the synthesis of each strand. The replisome consisting of bacteriophage T7 DNA polymerase, helicase, primase, and single-stranded DNA-binding protein mediates coordinated replication. The criteria for coordination are fulfilled: (1) a replication loop is formed, (2) leading and lagging strand synthesis are coupled, (3) the lagging strand polymerase recycles from one Okazaki fragment to another, and (4) the length of Okazaki fragments is regulated. T7 single-stranded DNA-binding protein is essential for coordination.
The affinities and location of oligonucleotides bound to intact and truncated bacteriophage T4 gene 32 protein have been elucidated by two independent and sensitive methods. The nucleic acid binding site is located within the core domain of 32 protein, residues 22-253. Oligonucleotides protect the core domain against proteolysis catalyzed by mammalian endoproteinase Arg-C. Of the three cleavage sites, Arg111, within the internal "LAST" ((Lys/Arg)3(Ser/Thr)2) motif, is selectively protected. We have previously suggested that these LAST residues, Lys-Arg-Lys-Thr-Ser, residues 110-114, are involved in nucleic acid binding, and our results are also consistent with crystallographic studies. The inhibitory effects of oligonucleotides on the kinetics of core domain proteolysis were used to quantify binding affinities. In addition, affinities of oligonucleotides for both core domain and intact protein were obtained from their effect on the Tm-depressing activities of these proteins. For both core and intact protein, the degree of affinity increases with oligonucleotide length. The presence of a 5' terminal phosphate increases the affinity two- to fourfold. Placement of methylphosphonodiester (uncharged) linkages at alternating linkages vastly lowers binding affinity for the intact protein and core domain. We conclude that at least two and likely three adjacent phosphodiester linkages are a minimal requirement for binding, further defining the electrostatic component of the interaction. The length-dependence of binding affinity suggests that additional interactions, both ionic and non-ionic, likely occur with longer oligonucleotides.
Helicases that unwind DNA at the replication fork are ring-shaped oligomeric enzymes that move along one strand of a DNA duplex and catalyze the displacement of the complementary strand in a reaction that is coupled to nucleotide hydrolysis. The helicase domain of the replicative helicase-primase protein from bacteriophage T7 crystallized as a helical filament that resembles the Escherichia coli RecA protein, an ATP-dependent DNA strand exchange factor. When viewed in projection along the helical axis of the crystals, six protomers of the T7 helicase domain resemble the hexameric rings seen in electron microscopic images of the intact T7 helicase-primase. Nucleotides bind at the interface between pairs of adjacent subunits where an arginine is near the gamma-phosphate of the nucleotide in trans. The bound nucleotide stabilizes the folded conformation of a DNA-binding motif located near the center of the ring. These and other observations suggest how conformational changes are coupled to DNA unwinding activity.
We have determined the crystal structure of an active, hexameric fragment of the gene 4 helicase from bacteriophage T7. The structure reveals how subunit contacts stabilize the hexamer. Deviation from expected six-fold symmetry of the hexamer indicates that the structure is of an intermediate on the catalytic pathway. The structural consequences of the asymmetry suggest a "binding change" mechanism to explain how cooperative binding and hydrolysis of nucleotides are coupled to conformational changes in the ring that most likely accompany duplex unwinding. The structure of a complex with a nonhydrolyzable ATP analog provides additional evidence for this hypothesis, with only four of the six possible nucleotide binding sites being occupied in this conformation of the hexamer. This model suggests a mechanism for DNA translocation.
DNA polymerases change their specificity for nucleotide substrates with
each catalytic cycle, while achieving error frequencies in the range of 10
-5to 10-6. Here we present a 2.2 Å
crystal structure of the replicative DNA polymerase from bacteriophage T7
complexed with a primer–template and a nucleoside triphosphate in the
polymerase active site. The structure illustrates how nucleotides are selected
in a template-directed manner, and provides a structural basis for a metal-assisted
mechanism of phosphoryl transfer by a large group of related polymerases.
The use of selenomethionyl proteins for phase determination is growing in popularity for isomorphous replacement or multiwavelength anomalous dispersion (MAD) experiments. In some cases, it provides crucial phasing information and the key to solve a crystal structure. With the increase in the availability of synchrotron facilities (ESRF, APS) with beam lines dedicated to crystallographic studies, and MAD data collection in particular, selenomethionyl proteins may find routine use in phase determination. The procedures for engineering and crystallizing selenomethionyl proteins are divided into four steps: expression, cell growth, purification, and crystallization. The storage and properties of selenomethionyl protein crystals are discussed in this chapter. Selenomethionyl protein crystals should be kept in a reducing medium containing dithiothreitol (DTT) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and stored in an anaerobic chamber. Selenomethionyl protein crystals tend to be isomorphous with the native crystals, and selenomethionine incorporation does not usually alter diffraction limits. However, in some cases, selenomethionyl protein crystals are more radiation sensitive than their natural counterparts.
The determination of macromolecular structure by crystallography involves fitting atomic models to the observed diffraction data. The traditional measure of the quality of this fit, and presumably the accuracy of the model, is the R value. Despite stereochemical restraints, it is possible to overfit or 'misfit' the diffraction data: an incorrect model can be refined to fairly good R values as several recent examples have shown. Here I propose a reliable and unbiased indicator of the accuracy of such models. By analogy with the cross-validation method of testing statistical models I define a statistical quantity (R(free) (T) that measures the agreement between observed and computed structure factor amplitudes for a 'test' set of reflections that is omitted in the modelling and refinement process. As examples show, there is a high correlation between R(free) (T) and the accuracy of the atomic model phases. This is useful because experimental phase information is usually inaccurate, incomplete or unavailable. I expect that R(free) (T) will provide a measure of the information content of recently proposed models of thermal motion and disorder, time-averaging and bulk solvent.
- G Webster
- J Genschel
- U Curth
- C Urbanke
- C Kang
- R Hilgenfeld
Webster, G., Genschel, J., Curth, U., Urbanke, C., Kang, C. & Hilgenfeld, R.
(1997) FEBS Lett. 411, 313–316.