Structure and dynamics of three-way DNA junctions: atomic force microscopy studies

We have used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study the conformation of three-way DNA junctions, intermediates of DNA replication and recombination. Immobile three-way junctions with one hairpin arm (50, 27, 18 and 7 bp long) and two relatively long linear arms were obtained by annealing two partially homologous restriction fragments. Fragments containing inverted repeats of specific length formed hairpins after denaturation. Three-way junctions were obtained by annealing one strand of a fragment from a parental plasmid with one strand of an inverted repeat-containing fragment, purified from gels, and examined by AFM. The molecules are clearly seen as three-armed molecules with one short arm and two flexible long arms. The AFM analysis revealed two important features of three-way DNA junctions. First, three-way junctions are very dynamic structures. This conclusion is supported by a high variability of the inter-arm angle detected on dried samples. The mobility of the junctions was observed directly by imaging the samples in liquid (AFM in situ). Second, measurements of the angle between the arms led to the conclusion that three-way junctions are not flat, but rather pyramid-like. Non-flatness of the junction should be taken into account in analysis of the AFM data.     

Assembly and characterization of five-arm and six-arm DNA branched junctions.

DNA branched junctions have been constructed that contain either five arms or six arms surrounding a branch point. These junctions are not as stable as junctions containing three or four arms; unlike the smaller junctions, they cannot be shown to migrate as a single band on native gels when each of their arms contains eight nucleotide pairs. However, they can be stabilized if their arms contain 16 nucleotide pairs. Ferguson analysis of these junctions in combination with three-arm and four-arm junctions indicates a linear increase in friction constant as the number of arms increases, with the four-arm junction migrating anomalously. The five-arm junction does not appear to have any unusual stacking structure, and all strands show similar responses to hydroxyl radical autofootprinting analysis. By contrast, one strand of the six-arm junction shows virtually no protection from hydroxyl radicals, suggesting that it is the helical strand of a preferred stacking domain. Both junctions are susceptible to digestion by T4 endonuclease VII, which resolves Holliday junctions. However, the putative helical strand of the six-arm junction shows markedly reduced cleavage, supporting the notion that its structure is largely found in a helical conformation. Branched DNA molecules can be assembled into structures whose helix axes form multiply connected objects and networks. The ability to construct five-arm and six-arm junctions vastly increases the number of structures and networks that can be built from branched DNA components. Icosahedral deltahedra and 11 networks with 432 symmetry, constructed from Platonic and Archimedean solids, are among the structures whose construction is feasible, now that these junctions can be made.     

Structural recognition between a four-way DNA junction and a resolving enzyme

Resolving enzymes bind highly selectively to four-way DNA junctions, but the mechanism of this structural specificity is poorly understood. In this study, we have explored the role of interactions between the dimeric enzyme and the helical arms of the junction, using junctions with either shortened arms, or circular permutation of arms. We find that DNA-protein contacts in the arms containing the 5' ends of the continuous strands are very important, conferring a significant level of sequence discrimination upon both the choice of conformer and the order of strand cleavage. We have exploited these properties to obtain hydroxyl radical footprinting data on endonuclease I-junction complexes that are not complicated by the presence of alternative conformers, with results that are in good agreement with the arm permutation and shortening experiments. Substitution of phosphate groups at the center of the junction reveals the importance of electrostatic interactions at the point of strand exchange in the complex. Our data show that the form of the complex between endonuclease I and a DNA junction depends on the core of the junction and on interactions with the first six base-pairs of the arms containing the 5' ends of the continuous strands.     

The ligation and flexibility of four-arm DNA junctions

Four-arm DNA branched junctions are stable analogs of Holliday recombination intermediates, constructed from oligonucleotides. The conformational flexibility of junctions can be estimated by ligating them together and determining the set of closed macrocyclic products that are obtained among the linked units. We have performed a series of these experiments, using pairs of sticky ends that flank each of the six angles of a four-arm junction. In every case, the ligated junctions are separated by 20 nucleotide pairs, about two turns of DNA. All expected short linear products, starting with dimers, are observed for all ligations. All ligations result in a macrocyclic series that begins with trimers. Thus, over the time scale of these reactions, the arms of this junction can form angles as low as 60°. The response of this junction to torsional stress has been tested in a companion experiment. A smaller version of this same four-arm junction has been oligomerized so that successive junctions are separated by 16 nucleotide pairs, approximately 1.5 turns of DNA. If junctions were as rigid as linear duplex DNA, this system would not be expected to form macrocycles until the continuous chain approaches the Shore–Baldwin limit, ca. 160 base pairs. However, macrocyclic closure is observed in a regular ligation ladder, starting from tetramers. Model building suggests that the most likely explanation for the observed closure is that the junction adopts two different conformations, which bend the continuous strand toward opposite grooves. The junction structures formed by these ligations represent fluctuations from equilibrium structures.     

Preparation and melting of single strand circular DNA loops.

A method for preparation of single strand DNA circles of almost arbitrary sequence is described. By ligating two sticky ended hairpins together a linear duplex is formed, closed at both ends by single stranded loops. The melting characteristics of such loops are investigated using optical absorbance and NMR. It is shown by comparison with the corresponding linear sequence (closed circle minus the end loops) that the effects of end fraying and the strand concentration dependence of the melting temperature are eliminated in the circular form. Over the concentration range examined (0.5 to 2.0 micromolar strands), the circular DNA has a monophasic melting curve, while the linear duplex is biphasic, probably due to hairpin formation. Since effects of duplex to single strands dissociation do not contribute to melting of the circular molecules (dumbells), these DNAs present a realistic experimental model for examining local thermal stability in DNA.     

Asymmetric structure of a three-arm DNA junction

We present here experimental evidence that three-arm branched DNA molecules form an asymmetric structure in the presence of Mg2+. Electrophoretic mobility and chemical and enzymatic footprinting experiments on a three-arm branched DNA molecule formed from three 16-mer strands are described. The electrophoretic mobilities of three species of a three-arm junction in which pairs of arms are extended are found to differ in the presence of Mg2+: one combination of elongated arms migrates significantly faster than the other two. This effect is eliminated in the absence of Mg2+, leading us to suggest that the three-arm DNA junction forms an asymmetric structure due to preferential stacking of two of the arms at the junction in the presence of Mg2+. The pattern of self-protection of each 16-mer strand of the core complex exposed to Fe(II).EDTA and DNase I scission is unique, consistent with formation of an asymmetric structure in the presence of Mg2+. We conclude that three-arm junctions resemble four-arm junctions in showing preferential stacking effects at the branch site. Comparison of the scission patterns of linear duplexes and the branched trimer by the reactive probes methidiumpropyl-EDTA.Fe(II) [MPE.Fe(II)] and Cu(I)-[o-phenanthroline]2 [(OP)2CuI] further indicates that the branch point represents a site of enhanced binding for drugs, as it does in the four-arm case. Reaction with diethyl pyrocarbonate (DEPC), a purine-specific probe sensitive to conformation, is enhanced at the branch site, consistent with loosening of base pairing or unpairing at this point.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Stability and structure of three-way DNA junctions containing unpaired nucleotides.

Non-paired nucleotides stabilize the formation of three-way helical DNA junctions. Two or more unpaired nucleotides located in the junction region enable oligomers ten to fifteen nucleotides long to assemble, forming conformationally homogeneous junctions, as judged by native gel electrophoresis. The unpaired bases can be present on the same strand or on two different strands. Up to five extra bases on one strand have been tested and found to produce stable junctions. The formation of stable structures is favored by the presence of a divalent cation such as magnesium and by high monovalent salt concentration. The order-disorder transition of representative three-way junctions was monitored optically in the ultraviolet and analyzed to quantify thermodynamically the stabilization provided by unpaired bases in the junction region. We report the first measurements of the thermodynamics of adding an unpaired nucleotide to a nucleic acid three-way junction. We find that delta delta G degrees (37 degrees C) = +0.5 kcal/mol for increasing the number of unpaired adenosines from two to three. Three-way junctions having reporter arms 40 base-pairs long were also prepared. Each of the three reporter arms contained a unique restriction site 15 base-pairs from the junction. Asymmetric complexes produced by selectively cleaving each arm were analyzed on native gels. Cleavage of the double helical arm opposite the strand having the two extra adenosines resulted in a complex that migrated more slowly than complexes produced by cleavage at either of the other two arms. It is likely that the strand containing the unpaired adenosines is kinked at an acute angle, forming a Y-shaped, rather than a T-shaped junction.     

Slipped-strand DNAs formed by long (CAG)*(CTG) repeats: slipped-out repeats and slip-out junctions

The disease-associated expansion of (CTG)·(CAG) repeats is likely to involve slipped-strand DNAs. There are two types of slipped DNAs (S-DNAs): slipped homoduplex S-DNAs are formed between two strands having the same number of repeats; and heteroduplex slipped intermediates (SI-DNAs) are formed between two strands having different numbers of repeats. We present the first characterization of S-DNAs formed by disease-relevant lengths of (CTG)·(CAG) repeats which contained all predicted components including slipped-out repeats and slip-out junctions, where two arms of the three-way junction were composed of complementary paired repeats. In S-DNAs multiple short slip-outs of CTG or CAG repeats occurred throughout the repeat tract. Strikingly, in SI-DNAs most of the excess repeats slipped-out at preferred locations along the fully base-paired Watson–Crick duplex, forming defined three-way slip-out junctions. Unexpectedly, slipped-out CAG and slipped-out CTG repeats were predominantly in the random-coil and hairpin conformations, respectively. Both the junctions and the slip-outs could be recognized by DNA metabolizing proteins: only the strand with the excess repeats was hypersensitive to cleavage by the junction-specific T7 endonuclease I, while slipped-out CAG was preferentially bound by single-strand binding protein. An excellent correlation was observed for the size of the slip-outs in S-DNAs and SI-DNAs with the size of the tract length changes observed in quiescent and proliferating tissues of affected patients—suggesting that S-DNAs and SI-DNAs are mutagenic intermediates in those tissues, occurring during error-prone DNA metabolism and replication fork errors.     

Thermodynamics of DNA branching.

Branched DNA molecules arise transiently as intermediates in genetic recombination or on extrusion of cruciforms from covalent circular DNA duplexes that contain palindromic sequences. The free energy of these structures relative to normal DNA duplexes is of interest both physically and biologically. Oligonucleotide complexes that can form stable branched structures, DNA junctions, have made it possible to model normally unstable branched states of DNA such as Holliday recombinational intermediates. We present here an evaluation of the free energy of creating four-arm branch points in duplex DNA, using a system of two complementary junctions and four DNA duplexes formed from different combinations of the same set of eight 16-mer strands. The thermodynamics of formation of each branched structure from the matching pair of intact duplexes have been estimated in two experiments. In the first, labeled strands are allowed to partition between duplexes and junctions in a competition assay on polyacrylamide gels. In the second, the heats of forming branched or linear molecules from the component strands have been determined by titration microcalorimetry at several temperatures. Taken together these measurements allow us to determine the standard thermodynamic parameters for the process of creating a branch in an otherwise normal DNA duplex. The free energy for reacting two 16-mer duplexes to yield a four-arm junction in which the branch site is incapable of migrating is + 1.1 (+/- 0.4) kcal mol-1 (at 18 degrees C, 10 mM-Mg2+). Analysis of the distribution of duplex and tetramer products by electrophoresis confirms that the free energy difference between the four duplexes and two junctions is small at this temperature. The associated enthalpy change at 18 degrees C is +27.1 (+/- 1.3) kcal mol-1, while the entropy is +89 (+/- 30) cal K-1 mol-1. The free energy for branching is temperature dependent, with a large unfavorable enthalpy change compensated by a favorable entropy term. Since forming one four-stranded complex from two duplexes should be an entropically unfavorable process, branch formation is likely to be accompanied by significant changes in hydration and ion binding. A significant apparent delta Cp is also observed for the formation of one mole of junction, +0.97 (+/-0.05) kcal deg-1 mol-1.     

Structures of bulged three-way DNA junctions.

We have studied a series of three-way DNA junctions containing unpaired bases on one strand at the branch-point of the junctions. The global conformation of the arms of the junctions has been analysed by means of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, as a function of conditions. We find that in the absence of added metal ions, all the results for all the junctions can be accounted for by extended structures, with the largest angle being that between the arms defined by the strand containing the extra bases. Upon addition of magnesium (II) or hexamine cobalt (III) ions, the electrophoretic patterns change markedly, indicative of ion-dependent folding transitions for some of the junctions. For the junction lacking the unpaired bases, the three inter-arm angles appear to be quite similar, suggesting an extended structure. However, the addition of unpaired bases permits the three-way junction to adopt a significantly different structure, in which one angle becomes smaller than the other two. These species also exhibit marked protection against osmium addition to thymine bases at the point of strand exchange. These results are consistent with a model in which two of the helical arms undergo coaxial stacking in the presence of magnesium ions, with the third arm defining an angle that depends upon the number of unpaired bases.     

DNA junctions, antijunctions, and mesojunctions.

Antijunctions and mesojunctions are new classes of multistranded DNA complexes. They represent a generalization of DNA branched junction complexes, such as the Holliday recombination intermediate. Each strand of a conventional branched junction participates in two different double helices, and this is also true for mesojunctions and antijunctions. The helix axes of conventional branched junction complexes may be drawn to converge at a point, but this convergence occurs for lines drawn perpendicular to the helix axes of antijunctions. Mesojunctions are complexes that mix these features of junctions and antijunctions. Antijunction complexes require an even number of strands. We have synthesized the mesojunction containing three strands, the two mesojunctions containing four strands, and the antijunction containing four strands; we compare them with branched junctions containing three and four strands, derived by permutations of the same sequences. Each double helix is designed to contain 1.5 turns of DNA. A tendency to oligomerize makes it difficult to capture antijunctions and mesojunctions in stable discrete complexes, in contrast to conventional branched junctions. For both three-strand and four-strand complexes, Tm is highest for conventional branched junctions. Ferguson analysis indicates similarities in the occluded surface area of junctions, antijunctions, and one four-strand mesojunction, but the other four-strand mesojunction has a much lower apparent surface area. Hydroxyl radical cleavage patterns suggest that the four-strand antijunction and the low-surface-area four-strand mesojunction form stacking domains, analogous to the behavior of conventional branched junctions. These new structures are related to replicational and recombinational intermediates and to single-stranded nucleic acid knots.     

The construction of a trefoil knot from a DNA branched junction motif

A DNA trefoil (3₁) knot has been constructed from a 104-nucleotide molecule whose strands form a 3-arm branched junction motif. This construction tests the notion that a node in a DNA knot can be equated with a half-turn of double-helical DNA, and is consistent with that concept. Of five 104-mer sequences tested, only one produces high yields of the target knot. The other molecules produce larger quantities of circular material and of a knot containing more nodes. The key features that differentiate the successful design from the others are (1) the ligation takes place in the linker region between helical domains and (2) only six nucleotide pairs are used for each of the double-helical arms of the junction. The successful design separates the double-helical regions from each other by a spacer containing two deoxythymidine nucleotides at the site of the branched junction. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Physical and topological properties of circular DNA

Several types of circular DNA molecules are now known. These are classified as single-stranded rings, covalently closed duplex rings, and weakly bonded duplex rings containing an interruption in one or both strands. Single rings are exemplified by the viral DNA from φX174 bacteriophage. Duplex rings appear to exist in a twisted configuration in neutral salt solutions at room temperature. Examples of such molecules are the DNA''s from the papova group of tumor viruses and certain intracellular forms of φX and λ-DNA. These DNA''s have several common properties which derive from the topological requirement that the winding number in such molecules is invariant. They sediment abnormally rapidly in alkaline (denaturing) solvents because of the topological barrier to unwinding. For the same basic reason these DNA''s are thermodynamically more stable than the strand separable DNA''s in thermal and alkaline melting experiments. The introduction of one single strand scission has a profound effect on the properties of closed circular duplex DNA''s. In neutral solutions a scission appears to generate a swivel in the complementary strand at a site in the helix opposite to the scission. The twists are then released and a slower sedimenting, weakly closed circular duplex is formed. Such circular duplexes exhibit normal melting behavior, and in alkali dissociate to form circular and linear single strands which sediment at different velocities. Weakly closed circular duplexes containing an interruption in each strand are formed by intramolecular cyclization of viral λ-DNA. A third kind of weakly closed circular duplex is formed by reannealing single strands derived from circularly permuted T2 DNA. These reconstituted duplexes again contain an interruption in each strand though not necessarily regularly spaced with respect to each other.     

Resolution of Holliday junction analogs by T4 endonuclease VII can be directed by substrate structure

Endonuclease VII is an enzyme from bacteriophage T4 capable of resolving four-arm Holliday junction intermediates in recombination. Since natural Holliday junctions have homologous (2-fold) sequence symmetry, they can branch migrate, creating a population of substrates that have the branch point at different sites. We have explored the substrate requirements of endonuclease VII by using immobile analogs of Holliday junctions that lack this homology, thereby situating the branch point at a fixed site in the molecule. We have found that immobile junctions whose double-helical arms contain fewer than nine nucleotide pairs do not serve as substrates for resolution by endonuclease VII. Scission of substrates with 2-fold symmetrically elongated arms produces resolution products that are a function of the particular arms that are lengthened. We have confirmed that the scission products are those of resolution, rather than nicking of individual strands, by using shamrock junction molecules formed from a single oligonucleotide strand. A combination of end-labeled and internally labeled shamrock molecules has been used to demonstrate that all of the scission is due to coordinated cleavage of DNA on opposite sides of the junction, 3' to the branch point. Endonuclease VII is known to cleave the crossover strands of Holliday junctions in this fashion. The relationship of the long arms to the cleavage direction suggests that the portion of the enzyme which requires the minimum arm length interacts with the pair of arms containing the 3' portion of the crossover strands on the bound surface of the antiparallel junction.     

DNase I cleavage of branched DNA molecules

We report here a potentially useful signature of branched DNA structures. The base 5' to the branch and the five bases flanking the 3' side of the branch site are protected from cleavage by DNase I in both three- and four-arm branched DNA molecules. Our procedure is to measure the cleavage profile for each 5' -labeled strand in a control duplex and compare this with that of the same strand in a branched structure under conditions yielding less than one cut per strand. The resulting cleavage pattern in an immobile four-arm junction is roughly 2-fold symmetric, consistent with the pattern of Fe(II).EDTA-induced cleavage that has been observed previously. In the three-arm junction, the DNase I cleavage pattern is asymmetric, indicating lack of 3-fold symmetry. A variable pattern of protection occurs to the 5' side of the branch in some strands only for both three- and four-arm junctions, extending 2-4 residues 5' to the branch.     

Torsional control of double-stranded DNA branch migration

DNA branched junctions are analogues of Holliday junction recombination intermediates. Partially mobile junctions contain a limited amount of homology flanking the branch point. A partially mobile DNA branched junction has been incorporated into a synthetic double-stranded circular DNA molecule. The junction is flanked by four homologous nucleotide pairs, so that there are five possible locations for the branch point. Two opposite arms of the branched junction are joined to form the circular molecule, which contains 262 nucleotides to the base of the junction. This molecule represents a system whereby torque applied to the circular molecule can have an impact on the junction, by relocating its branch point. Ligation of the molecule produces two topoisomers; about 87% of the product is a relaxed molecule, and the rest is a molecule with one positive supercoil. The position of the branch point is assayed by cleaving the molecule with endonuclease VII. We find that the major site of the branch point in the relaxed topoisomer is at the maximally extruded position in the relaxed molecule. Upon the addition of ethidium, the major site of the branch point migrates to the minimally extruded position. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biopoly 45: 69–83, 1998     

Conformational preference and ligand binding properties of DNA junctions are determined by sequence at the branch

Four-arm DNA branched junctions are stable analogues of Holliday recombinational intermediates. A number of four-arm DNA junctions synthesized from oligonucleotides have now been studied. Gel mobility or chemical footprinting experiments on several immobile four-arm junctions indicate that in the presence of Mg2+, they assume a preferred conformation consisting of two helical domains, each formed by stacking a particular pair of arms on each other. We show here that a junction we designate as J1c that has the same chemical composition as one we have previously studied in detail, J1, but is formed from the four strands complementary to those of the latter, exhibits the reverse stacking preference. The pattern of self-protection of the strands of J1c exposed to Fe(II).EDTA-induced scission reveals that twofold symmetry is preserved, but the opposite pair of strands preferentially cross over. Moreover, the Fe(II).EDTA scission profiles of J1c indicate that this junction exhibits a weaker bias as to which strands cross over than is observed in J1. The preference for the dominant species in J1 is 1.3 times greater than in J1c at 4 degrees C and in the presence of 10 mM Mg2+, based on chemical reactivity data. This is confirmed by a cleavage experiment using the resolvase enzyme, endonuclease I, from bacteriophage T7. This difference could reflect either sequence-dependent differences in the equilibrium among isomers, or in the structure of these junctions. Chemical footprinting experiments using the probes MPE.Fe(II) and (OP)2Cu(I) show that the high-affinity ligand binding site in immobile junctions is determined by junction geometry.     

Escherichia coli RuvC protein is an endonuclease that resolves the Holliday structure.

Genetic evidence suggests that the Escherichia coli ruvC gene is involved in DNA repair and in the late step of RecE and RecF pathway recombination. To study the biochemical properties of RuvC protein, we overproduced and highly purified the protein. By employing model substrates, we examined the possibility that RuvC protein is an endonuclease that resolves the Holliday structure, an intermediate in genetic recombination in which two double-stranded DNA molecules are linked by single-stranded crossover. RuvC protein cleaves cruciform junctions, which are formed by the extrusion of inverted repeat sequences from a supercoiled plasmid and which are structurally analogous to Holliday junctions, by introducing nicks into strands with the same polarity. The nicked ends are ligated by E.coli or T4 DNA ligases. Analysis of the cleavage sites suggests that DNA topology rather than a particular sequence determines the cleavage site. RuvC protein also cleaves Holliday junctions which are formed between gapped circular and linear duplex DNA by the function of RecA protein. However, it does not cleave a synthetic four-way junction that does not possess homology between arms. The active form of RuvC protein, as studied by gel filtration, is a dimer. This is mechanistically suited for an endonuclease involved in swapping DNA strands at the crossover junctions. From these properties of RuvC protein and the phenotypes of the ruvC mutants, we infer that RuvC protein is an endonuclease that resolves Holliday structures in vivo.     

Recognition and manipulation of branched DNA by the RusA Holliday junction resolvase of Escherichia coli.

Homologous recombination is a fundamental cellular process that shapes and reshapes the genomes of all organisms and promotes repair of damaged DNA. A key step in this process is the resolution of Holliday junctions formed by homologous DNA pairing and strand exchange. In Escherichia coli , a Holliday junction is processed into recombinant products by the concerted activities of the RuvA and RuvB proteins, which together drive branch migration, and RuvC endonuclease, which resolves the structure. In the absence of RuvABC, recombination can be promoted by increasing the expression of the RusA endonuclease, a Holliday junction resolvase encoded by a cryptic prophage gene. Here, we describe the DNA binding properties of RusA. We found that RusA was highly selective for branched molecules and formed complexes with these structures even in the presence of a large excess of linear duplex DNA. However, it does bind weakly to linear duplex DNA. Under conditions where there was no detectable binding to duplex DNA, RusA formed a highly structured complex with a synthetic Holliday junction that was remarkably stable and insensitive to divalent metal ions. The duplex arms were found to adopt a specific alignment within this complex that approximated to a tetrahedral conformation of the junction.     

Long-distance radical cation reactions in DNA three-way junctions: inter-arm interaction and migration through the junction

DNA three-way junctions (TWJ) are branched molecules having three ‘arms’. We studied long-distance radical cation migration in these assemblies by incorporating anthraquinone (AQ) groups linked by a covalent tether to one strand of one arm of the TWJ. Excitation of the AQ at 350 nm results in one-electron oxidation of the DNA, which generates a base radical cation. This leads to relatively inefficient (compared with duplex DNA) strand cleavage at guanines following piperidine treatment of the irradiated samples. When the AQ is linked to the 5′-terminus of arm III by a flexible tether, gel electrophoretic analysis shows that strand cleavage occurs at the guanines in all three arms. We also investigated a TWJ in which the anthraquinone is specifically intercalated in arm III. In this case, a different pattern of strand cleavage is detected. We conclude that there are at least two mechanisms for long-distance radical cation migration in TWJs: (i) by inefficient charge hopping through the junction; (ii) by a through-space, cross-arm interaction when the AQ is on a flexible tether.