Download MendeleyHeterogeneity in E. coli RecBCD Helicase-DNA Binding and Base Pair Melting.
Hao, L., Zhang, R., Lohman, T.M.(2021) J Mol Biol 433: 167147-167147
- PubMed: 34246654
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167147
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
7MR0, 7MR1, 7MR2, 7MR3, 7MR4 - PubMed Abstract:
E. coli RecBCD, a helicase/nuclease involved in double stranded (ds) DNA break repair, binds to a dsDNA end and melts out several DNA base pairs (bp) using only its binding free energy. We examined RecBCD-DNA initiation complexes using thermodynamic and structural approaches. Measurements of enthalpy changes for RecBCD binding to DNA ends possessing pre-melted ssDNA tails of increasing length suggest that RecBCD interacts with ssDNA as long as 17-18 nucleotides and can melt at least 10-11 bp upon binding a blunt DNA end. Cryo-EM structures of RecBCD alone and in complex with a blunt-ended dsDNA show significant conformational heterogeneities associated with the RecB nuclease domain (RecB Nuc ) and the RecD subunit. In the absence of DNA, 56% of RecBCD molecules show no density for the RecB nuclease domain, RecB Nuc , and all RecBCD molecules show only partial density for RecD. DNA binding reduces these conformational heterogeneities, with 63% of the molecules showing density for both RecD and RecB Nuc . This suggests that the RecB Nuc domain is dynamic and influenced by DNA binding. The major RecBCD-DNA structural class in which RecB Nuc is docked onto RecC shows melting of at least 11 bp from a blunt DNA end, much larger than previously observed. A second structural class in which RecB Nuc is not docked shows only four bp melted suggesting that RecBCD complexes transition between states with different extents of DNA melting and that the extent of melting regulates initiation of helicase activity.
Organizational Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, Box 8231, Saint Louis, MO 63110, United States.
