The Geminin and Idas Coiled Coils Preferentially Form a Heterodimer that Inhibits Geminin Function in DNA Replication Licensing
Caillate, C., Pefani, E.D., Gillespie, P.J., Taraviras, S., Blow, J.J., Lygerou, Z., Perrakis, A.(2013) J Biol Chem 288: 31624
- PubMed: 24064211 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M113.491928
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
4BRY - PubMed Abstract: 
Geminin is an important regulator of proliferation and differentiation in metazoans, which predominantly inhibits the DNA replication licensing factor Cdt1, preventing genome over-replication. We show that Geminin preferentially forms stable coiled-coil heterodimers with its homologue, Idas. In contrast to Idas-Geminin heterodimers, Idas homodimers are thermodynamically unstable and are unlikely to exist as a stable macromolecule under physiological conditions. The crystal structure of the homology regions of Idas in complex with Geminin showed a tight head-to-head heterodimeric coiled-coil. This Idas-Geminin heterodimer binds Cdt1 less strongly than Geminin-Geminin, still with high affinity (∼30 nm), but with notably different thermodynamic properties. Consistently, in Xenopus egg extracts, Idas-Geminin is less active in licensing inhibition compared with a Geminin-Geminin homodimer. In human cultured cells, ectopic expression of Idas leads to limited over-replication, which is counteracted by Geminin co-expression. The properties of the Idas-Geminin complex suggest it as the functional form of Idas and provide a possible mechanism to modulate Geminin activity.
Organizational Affiliation: 
From the Division of Biochemistry, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, 1066 CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands.