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  • Oxford University Press  (11)
  • American Physical Society  (1)
  • 1
    Publication Date: 2016-04-08
    Description: The xeroderma pigmentosum group D (XPD) helicase is a component of the transcription factor IIH complex in eukaryotes and plays an essential role in DNA repair in the nucleotide excision repair pathway. XPD is a 5' to 3' helicase with an essential iron–sulfur cluster. Structural and biochemical studies of the monomeric archaeal XPD homologues have aided a mechanistic understanding of this important class of helicase, but several important questions remain open. In particular, the mechanism for DNA loading, which is assumed to require large protein conformational change, is not fully understood. Here, DNA binding by the archaeal XPD helicase from Thermoplasma acidophilum has been investigated using a combination of crystallography, cross-linking, modified substrates and biochemical assays. The data are consistent with an initial tight binding of ssDNA to helicase domain 2, followed by transient opening of the interface between the Arch and 4FeS domains, allowing access to a second binding site on helicase domain 1 that directs DNA through the pore. A crystal structure of XPD from Sulfolobus acidocaldiarius that lacks helicase domain 2 has an otherwise unperturbed structure, emphasizing the stability of the interface between the Arch and 4FeS domains in XPD.
    Print ISSN: 0305-1048
    Electronic ISSN: 1362-4962
    Topics: Biology
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  • 2
    Publication Date: 2015-12-16
    Description: Single-stranded DNA binding proteins (SSBs) are ubiquitous across all organisms and are characterized by the presence of an OB (oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide/oligopeptide) binding motif to recognize single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). Despite their critical role in genome maintenance, our knowledge about SSB function is limited to proteins containing multiple OB-domains and little is known about single OB-folds interacting with ssDNA. Sulfolobus solfataricus SSB (SsoSSB) contains a single OB-fold and being the simplest representative of the SSB-family may serve as a model to understand fundamental aspects of SSB:DNA interactions. Here, we introduce a novel approach based on the competition between Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), protein-induced fluorescence enhancement (PIFE) and quenching to dissect SsoSSB binding dynamics at single-monomer resolution. We demonstrate that SsoSSB follows a monomer-by-monomer binding mechanism that involves a positive-cooperativity component between adjacent monomers. We found that SsoSSB dynamic behaviour is closer to that of Replication Protein A than to Escherichia coli SSB; a feature that might be inherited from the structural analogies of their DNA-binding domains. We hypothesize that SsoSSB has developed a balance between high-density binding and a highly dynamic interaction with ssDNA to ensure efficient protection of the genome but still allow access to ssDNA during vital cellular processes.
    Keywords: Protein-nucleic acid interaction
    Print ISSN: 0305-1048
    Electronic ISSN: 1362-4962
    Topics: Biology
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  • 3
    Publication Date: 2014-11-28
    Description: DNA palindromes are hotspots for DNA double strand breaks, inverted duplications and intra-chromosomal translocations in a wide spectrum of organisms from bacteria to humans. These reactions are mediated by DNA secondary structures such as hairpins and cruciforms. In order to further investigate the pathways of formation and cleavage of these structures, we have compared the processing of a 460 base pair (bp) perfect palindrome in the Escherichia coli chromosome with the same construct interrupted by a 20 bp spacer to form a 480 bp interrupted palindrome. We show here that the perfect palindrome can form hairpin DNA structures on the templates of the leading- and lagging-strands in a replication-dependent reaction. In the presence of the hairpin endonuclease SbcCD, both copies of the replicated chromosome containing the perfect palindrome are cleaved, resulting in the formation of an unrepairable DNA double-strand break and cell death. This contrasts with the interrupted palindrome, which forms a hairpin on the lagging-strand template that is processed to form breaks, which can be repaired by homologous recombination.
    Print ISSN: 0305-1048
    Electronic ISSN: 1362-4962
    Topics: Biology
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  • 4
    Publication Date: 2016-01-30
    Description: The complex molecular motions central to the functions of helicases have long attracted attention. Protein crystallography has provided transformative insights into these dynamic conformational changes, however important questions about the true nature of helicase configurations during the catalytic cycle remain. Using pulsed EPR (PELDOR or DEER) to measure interdomain distances in solution, we have examined two representative helicases: PcrA from superfamily 1 and XPD from superfamily 2. The data show that PcrA is a dynamic structure with domain movements that correlate with particular functional states, confirming and extending the information gleaned from crystal structures and other techniques. XPD in contrast is shown to be a rigid protein with almost no conformational changes resulting from nucleotide or DNA binding, which is well described by static crystal structures. Our results highlight the complimentary nature of PELDOR to crystallography and the power of its precision in understanding the conformational changes relevant to helicase function.
    Print ISSN: 0305-1048
    Electronic ISSN: 1362-4962
    Topics: Biology
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  • 5
    Publication Date: 2016-03-01
    Description: CRISPR-Cas is an RNA-guided adaptive immune system that protects bacteria and archaea from invading nucleic acids. Type III systems (Cmr, Csm) have been shown to cleave RNA targets in vitro and some are capable of transcription-dependent DNA targeting. The crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus has two divergent subtypes of the type III system (Sso-IIID and a Cmr7-containing variant of Sso-IIIB). Here, we report that both the Sso-IIID and Sso-IIIB complexes cleave cognate RNA targets with a ruler mechanism and 6 or 12 nt spacing that relates to the organization of the Cas7 backbone. This backbone-mediated cleavage activity thus appears universal for the type III systems. The Sso-IIIB complex is also known to possess a distinct ‘UA’ cleavage mode. The predominant activity observed in vitro depends on the relative molar concentration of protein and target RNA. The Sso-IIID complex can cleave plasmid DNA targets in vitro, generating linear DNA products with an activity that is dependent on both the cyclase and HD nuclease domains of the Cas10 subunit, suggesting a role for both nuclease active sites in the degradation of double-stranded DNA targets.
    Print ISSN: 0305-1048
    Electronic ISSN: 1362-4962
    Topics: Biology
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  • 6
    Publication Date: 2011-11-24
    Description: Let A = 1 (B) be the semigroup algebra of B, the bicyclic semigroup. We give a resolution of (B) which simplifies the computation of the cohomology of 1 (B) dual bimodules. We apply this to the dual module (B) and show that the simplicial cohomology groups H n (A, A') vanish for n ≥ 2. Using the Connes–Tzygan exact sequence, these results are used to show that the cyclic cohomology groups HC n (A, A') vanish when n is odd and are one-dimensional when n is even ( n ≥ 2).
    Print ISSN: 0033-5606
    Electronic ISSN: 1464-3847
    Topics: Mathematics
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  • 7
    Publication Date: 2014-05-01
    Description: The recently discovered clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-mediated virus defense represents an adaptive immune system in many bacteria and archaea. Small CRISPR RNAs cause cleavage of complementary invading nucleic acids in conjunction with an associated protein or a protein complex. Here, we show CRISPR-mediated cleavage of mRNA from an invading virus in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus . More than 40% of the targeted mRNA could be cleaved, as demonstrated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Cleavage of the mRNA was visualized by northern analyses and cleavage sites were mapped. In vitro, the same substrates were cleaved by the purified CRISPR-associated CMR complex from Sulfolobus solfataricus . The in vivo system was also re-programmed to knock down mRNA of a selected chromosomal gene (β-galactosidase) using an artificial miniCRISPR locus. With a single complementary spacer, ~50% reduction of the targeted mRNA and of corresponding intracellular protein activity was achieved. Our results demonstrate in vivo cleavage of mRNA in a prokaryote mediated by small RNAs (i.e. analogous to RNA interference in eukaryotes) and the re-programming of the system to silence specific genes of interest.
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  • 8
    Publication Date: 2014-06-03
    Description: CRISPR-Cas is an adaptive prokaryotic immune system, providing protection against viruses and other mobile genetic elements. In type I and type III CRISPR-Cas systems, CRISPR RNA (crRNA) is generated by cleavage of a primary transcript by the Cas6 endonuclease and loaded into multisubunit surveillance/effector complexes, allowing homology-directed detection and cleavage of invading elements. Highly studied CRISPR-Cas systems such as those in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa have a single Cas6 enzyme that is an integral subunit of the surveillance complex. By contrast, Sulfolobus solfataricus has a complex CRISPR-Cas system with three types of surveillance complexes (Cascade/type I-A, CSM/type III-A and CMR/type III-B), five Cas6 paralogues and two different CRISPR-repeat families (AB and CD). Here, we investigate the kinetic properties of two different Cas6 paralogues from S. solfataricus . The Cas6-1 subtype is specific for CD-family CRISPR repeats, generating crRNA by multiple turnover catalysis whilst Cas6-3 has a broader specificity and also processes a non-coding RNA with a CRISPR repeat-related sequence. Deep sequencing of crRNA in surveillance complexes reveals a biased distribution of spacers derived from AB and CD loci, suggesting functional coupling between Cas6 paralogues and their downstream effector complexes.
    Print ISSN: 0305-1048
    Electronic ISSN: 1362-4962
    Topics: Biology
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  • 9
    Publication Date: 2014-02-11
    Description: Flap endonuclease 1 (Fen1) is a highly conserved structure-specific nuclease that catalyses a specific incision to remove 5' flaps in double-stranded DNA substrates. Fen1 plays an essential role in key cellular processes, such as DNA replication and repair, and mutations that compromise Fen1 expression levels or activity have severe health implications in humans. The nuclease activity of Fen1 and other FEN family members can be stimulated by processivity clamps such as proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA); however, the exact mechanism of PCNA activation is currently unknown. Here, we have used a combination of ensemble and single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer together with protein-induced fluorescence enhancement to uncouple and investigate the substrate recognition and catalytic steps of Fen1 and Fen1/PCNA complexes. We propose a model in which upon Fen1 binding, a highly dynamic substrate is bent and locked into an open flap conformation where specific Fen1/DNA interactions can be established. PCNA enhances Fen1 recognition of the DNA substrate by further promoting the open flap conformation in a step that may involve facilitated threading of the 5' ssDNA flap. Merging our data with existing crystallographic and molecular dynamics simulations we provide a solution-based model for the Fen1/PCNA/DNA ternary complex.
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    Topics: Biology
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  • 10
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