Site-specific DNA transesterification by vaccinia topoisomerase: effects of benzo[alpha]pyrene-dA, 8-oxoguanine, 8-oxoadenine and 2-aminopurine modifications

Vaccinia DNA topoisomerase forms a covalent DNA-(3'-phosphotyrosyl)-enzyme intermediate at a specific target site 5'-C+5C+4C+3T+2T+1p downward arrow N-1 in duplex DNA. Here we study the effects of base modifications on the rate and extent of single-turnover DNA transesterification. Chiral trans opened C-10 R and S adducts of benzo[a]pyrene (BP) 7,8-diol 9,10-epoxide were introduced at single N6-deoxyadenosine (dA) positions within the 3'-G+5G+4G+3A+2A+1T-1A-2 sequence of the nonscissile DNA strand. The R and S BPdA adducts intercalate from the major groove on the 5' and 3' sides of the modified base, respectively, and perturb local base stacking. We found that R and S BPdA modifications at +1A reduced the transesterification rate by a factor of 700-1000 without affecting the yield of the covalent topoisomerase-DNA complex. BPdA modifications at +2A reduced the extent of transesterification and elicited rate decrements of 200- and 7000-fold for the S and R diastereomers, respectively. In contrast, BPdA adducts at the -2 position had no effect on the extent of the reaction and relatively little impact on the rate of cleavage. A more subtle probe of major groove contacts entailed substituting each of the purines of the nonscissile strand with its 8-oxo analog. The +3 oxoG modification slowed transesterification 35-fold, whereas other 8-oxo modifications were benign. 8-Oxo substitutions at the -1 position in the scissile strand slowed single-turnover cleavage by a factor of six but had an even greater slowing effect on religation, which resulted in an increase in the cleavage equilibrium constant. 2-Aminopurine at positions +3, +4, or +5 in the nonscissile strand had no effect on transesterification per se but had synergistic effects when combined with 8-oxoA at position -1 in the scissile strand. These findings illuminate the functional interface of vaccinia topoisomerase with the DNA major groove.     

Minimal DNA duplex requirements for topoisomerase I-mediated cleavage in vitro

The minimal DNA duplex requirements for topoisomerase I-mediated cleavage at a specific binding sequence were determined by analyzing the interaction of the enzyme with sets of DNA substrates varying successively by single nucleotides at the 5'- or 3' end of either strand. Topoisomerase I cleavage experiments showed a minimal region of nine nucleotides on the scissile strand and five nucleotides on the noncleaved strand. On the scissile strand, seven of the nine nucleotides were situated upstream to the cleavage site, while all five nucleotides required on the non-cleaved strand were located to this side. The results suggested that topoisomerase I bound tightly to this region, stabilizing the DNA duplex extensively. On minimal substrates which were partially single-stranded downstream to the cleavage site, cleavage was suicidal, that is, the enzyme was able to cleave the substrates, but unable to perform the final religation.     

Requirements for noncovalent binding of vaccinia topoisomerase I to duplex DNA.

Vaccinia DNA topoisomerase binds duplex DNA and forms a covalent adduct at sites containing a conserved sequence element 5'(C/T)CCTT decreases in the scissile strand. Distinctive aspects of noncovalent versus covalent interaction emerge from analysis of the binding properties of Topo(Phe-274), a mutated protein which is unable to cleave DNA, but which binds DNA noncovalently. Whereas DNA cleavage by wild type enzyme is most efficient with 'suicide' substrates containing fewer than 10 base pairs distal to the scissile bond, optimal noncovalent binding by Topo(Phe-274) requires at least 10-bp of DNA 3' of the cleavage site. Thus, the region of DNA flanking the pentamer motif serves to stabilize the noncovalent topoisomerase-DNA complex. This result is consistent with the downstream dimensions of the DNA binding site deduced from nuclease footprinting. Topo(Phe-274) binds to duplex DNA lacking the consensus pentamer with 7-10-fold lower affinity than to CCCTT-containing DNA.     

Probing DNA single strands for single-base bulges with neocarzinostatin chromophore.

Neocarzinostatin chromophore (NCS-Chrom) induces strong cleavage at a single site (C3) in the single-stranded and 5' (32)P-end-labeled 13-mer GCCAGATTTGAGC in a reaction dependent on a thiol. By contrast, in the duplex form of the same 13-mer, strand cleavage occurs only at the T and A residues, and C3 is not cleaved. To determine the minimal structural requirement(s) for C3 cleavage in the single-stranded oligomer, several deletions and mutations were made in the 13-mer. A 10-mer (GCCAGAGAGC) derived from the 13-mer by deletion of the three T residues was also cleaved exclusively at C3 by NCS-Chrom, generating fragments having 5' phosphate ends. That the cleavage at C3 is initiated by abstraction of its 5' hydrogen is confirmed in experiments using 3' (32)P-end-labeled 10-mer. The competent 13-mer and 10-mer were assigned hairpin structures with a stem loop and a single bulged out A base, placing C3 across from and 3' to the bulge. Removal of the bulged A base from the 13-mer and the 10-mer resulted in complete loss of cutting activity, proving that it is the essential determinant in competent substrates. Studies of thiol post-activated NCS-Chrom binding to the DNA oligomers show that the drug binds to the bulge-containing 13-mer (K(d) = 0.78 microM) and the 10-mer (K(d) = 1.11 microM), much more strongly than to the 12-mer (K(d) = 20 microM) and the 9-mer (K(d) = 41 microM), lacking the single-base bulge. A mutually induced-fit between NCS-Chrom and the oligomer resulting in optimal stabilization of the drug-DNA complex is proposed to account for the site-specific cleavage at C3. These studies establish the usefulness of NCS-Chrom as a probe for single-base bulges in DNA.     

Individual nucleotide bases, not base pairs, are critical for triggering site-specific DNA cleavage by vaccinia topoisomerase

Vaccinia DNA topoisomerase forms a covalent DNA-(3'-phosphotyrosyl)-enzyme intermediate at a specific target site 5'-C(+5)C(+4)C(+3)T(+2)T(+1)p downward arrow N(-1) in duplex DNA. Here we study the effects of abasic lesions at individual positions of the scissile and nonscissile strands on the rate of single-turnover DNA transesterification and the cleavage-religation equilibrium. The rate of DNA incision was reduced by factors of 350, 250, 60, and 10 when abasic sites replaced the -1N, +1T, +2T, and +4C bases of the scissile strand, but abasic lesions at +5C and +3C had little or no effect. Abasic lesions in the nonscissile strand in lieu of +4G, +3G, +2A, and +1A reduced the rate of cleavage by factors of 130, 150, 10, and 5, whereas abasic lesions at +5G and -1N had no effect. The striking positional asymmetry of abasic interference on the scissile and nonscissile strands highlights the importance of individual bases, not base pairs, in promoting DNA cleavage. The rate of single-turnover DNA religation by the covalent topoisomerase-DNA complex was insensitive to abasic sites within the CCCTT sequence of the scissile strand, but an abasic lesion at the 5'-OH nucleoside (-1N) of the attacking DNA strand slowed the rate of religation by a factor of 600. Nonscissile strand abasic lesions at +1A and -1N slowed the rate of religation by factors of approximately 140 and 20, respectively, and strongly skewed the cleavage-religation equilibrium toward the covalent complex. Thus, abasic lesions immediately flanking the cleavage site act as topoisomerase poisons.     

3'-5' exonuclease of Klenow fragment: role of amino acid residues within the single-stranded DNA binding region in exonucleolysis and duplex DNA melting

The mechanism of the 3'-5' exonuclease activity of the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase I has been investigated with a combination of biochemical and spectroscopic techniques. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to make alanine substitutions of side chains that interact with the DNA substrate on the 5' side of the scissile phosphodiester bond. Kinetic parameters for 3'-5' exonuclease cleavage of single- and double-stranded DNA substrates were determined for each mutant protein in order to probe the role of the selected side chains in the exonuclease reaction. The results indicate that side chains that interact with the penultimate nucleotide (Q419, N420, and Y423) are important for anchoring the DNA substrate at the active site or ensuring proper geometry of the scissile phosphate. In contrast, side chains that interact with the third nucleotide from the DNA terminus (K422 and R455) do not participate directly in exonuclease cleavage of single-stranded DNA. Alanine substitutions of Q419, Y423, and R455 have markedly different effects on the cleavage of single- and double-stranded DNA, causing a much greater loss of activity in the case of a duplex substrate. Time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy decay measurements with a dansyl-labeled primer/template indicate that the Q419A, Y423A, and R455A mutations disrupted the ability of the Klenow fragment to melt duplex DNA and bind the frayed terminus at the exonuclease site. In contrast, the N420A mutation stabilized binding of a duplex terminus to the exonuclease site, suggesting that the N420 side chain facilitates the 3'-5' exonuclease reaction by introducing strain into the bound DNA substrate. Together, these results demonstrate that protein side chains that interact with the second or third nucleotides from the terminus can participate in both the chemical step of the exonuclease reaction, by anchoring the substrate in the active site or by ensuring proper geometry of the scissile phosphate, and in the prechemical steps of double-stranded DNA hydrolysis, by facilitating duplex melting.     

Intercalating polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts poison DNA religation by Vaccinia topoisomerase and act as roadblocks to digestion by exonuclease III

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-DNA adducts pervert the execution or fidelity of enzymatic DNA transactions and cause mutations and cancer. Here, we examine the effects of intercalating PAH-DNA adducts on the religation reaction of vaccinia DNA topoisomerase, a prototypal type IB topoisomerase (TopIB), and the 3' end-resection reaction of Escherichia coli exonuclease III (ExoIII), a DNA repair enzyme. Vaccinia TopIB forms a covalent DNA-(3'-phosphotyrosyl)-enzyme intermediate at a target site 5'-C(+5)C(+4)C(+3)T(+2)T(+1)p / N(-1) in duplex DNA. The rate of the forward cleavage reaction is suppressed to varying degrees by benzo[a]pyrene (BP) or benzo[c]phenanthrene (BPh) adducts at purine bases within the 3'-G(+5)G(+4)G(+3)A(+2)A(+1)T(-1)A(-2) sequence of the nonscissile strand. We report that BP adducts at the +1 and -2 N6-deoxyadenosine (dA) positions flanking the scissile phosphodiester slow the rate of DNA religation to a greater degree than they do the cleavage rate. By increasing the cleavage equilibrium constant > or = 10-fold, the BPdA adducts, which are intercalated via the major groove, act as TopIB poisons. With respect to ExoIII, we find that (i) single BPdA adducts act as durable roadblocks to ExoIII digestion, which is halted at sites 1 and 2 nucleotides prior to the modified base; (ii) single BPhdA adducts, which also intercalate via the major groove, elicit a transient pause prior to the lesion, which is eventually resected; and (iii) BPh adducts at N2-deoxyguanosine, which intercalate via the minor groove, are durable impediments to ExoIII digestion. These results highlight the sensitivity of repair outcomes to the structure of the PAH ring system and whether intercalation occurs via the major or minor groove.     

Reversed DNA strand cleavage specificity in initiation of Cre-LoxP recombination induced by the His289Ala active-site substitution

During the first steps of site-specific recombination, Cre protein cleaves and religates a specific homologous pair of LoxP strands to form a Holliday junction (HJ) intermediate. The HJ is resolved into recombination products through exchange of the second homologous strand pair. CreH289A, containing a His to Ala substitution in the conserved R-H-R catalytic motif, has a 150-fold reduced recombination rate and accumulates HJs. However, to produce these HJs, CreH289A exchanges the opposite set of strands compared to wild-type Cre (CreWT). To investigate how CreH289A and CreWT impose strand exchange order, we characterized their reactivities and strand cleavage preferences toward LoxP duplex and HJ substrates containing 8bp spacer substitutions. Remarkably, CreH289A had different and often opposite strand exchange preferences compared to CreWT with nearly all substrates. CreH289N was much less perturbed, implying that overall recombination rate and strand exchange depend more on His289 hydrogen bonding capability than on its acid/base properties. LoxP substitutions immediately 5' (S1 nucleotide) or 3' (S1' nucleotide) of the scissile phosphate had large effects on substrate utilization and strand exchange order. S1' substitutions, designed to alter base-unstacking events concomitant with Cre-induced LoxP bending, caused HJ accumulation and dramatically inverted the cleavage preferences. That pre-formed HJs were resolved via either strand in vitro suggests that inhibition of the "conformational switch" isomerization required to trigger the second strand exchange accounts for the observed HJ accumulation. Rather than reflecting CreWT behavior, CreH289A accumulates HJs of opposite polarity through a combination of its unique cleavage specificity and an HJ isomerization defect. The overall implication is that cleavage specificity is mediated by sequence-dependent DNA deformations that influence the scissile phosphate positioning and reactivity. A role of His289 may be to selectively stabilize the "activated" phosphate conformation in order to promote cleavage.     

Mapping of eukaryotic DNA topoisomerase I catalyzed cleavage without concomitant religation in the vicinity of DNA structural anomalies

Sensitive sites for covalent trapping of eukaryotic topoisomerase I at DNA structural anomalies were mapped by a new method using purified enzyme and defined DNA substrates. To insure that the obtained topoisomerase I trapping patterns were not influenced by DNA sequence variations, a single DNA imperfection was placed centrally within a homonucleotide track. Mapping of topoisomerase I-mediated irreversible cleavage sites on homopolymeric DNA substrates containing mismatches showed trapping of the enzyme in several positions in close vicinity of the DNA imperfection, with a strong preference for the 5' junction between the duplex DNA and the base-pairing anomaly. On homopolymeric DNA substrates containing a nick, sites of topoisomerase I-mediated cleavage on the intact strand were located just opposite to the nick and from one to ten nucleotides 5' to the nick. Sites of enzyme-mediated cleavage next to a nick and an immobile single-stranded branch were located 5' to the strand interruption in distances of two to six nucleotides and two to ten nucleotides, respectively. Taken together these findings suggest that covalent trapping of topoisomerase I proceeds at positions adjacent to mismatches, nicks and single-stranded branches, where the cleavage reaction is allowed and the ensuing ligation reaction prevented. In principle, the developed interference method might be of general utility to define topoisomerase-DNA interactions relative to different types of structural anomalies.     

Two classes of DNA end-joining reactions catalyzed by vaccinia topoisomerase I.

The ability of a eukaryotic DNA topoisomerase I to catalyze DNA rearrangements was examined in vitro using defined substrates and purified enzyme. Site-specific DNA strand cleavage by vaccinia topoisomerase I across from a nick generated double-strand breaks that could be religated to a heterologous blunt-ended duplex DNA regardless of the sequence of the acceptor molecule. Topoisomerase bound covalently at internal positions could religate the bound strand to an incoming acceptor provided that DNA molecule had sequence homology to the region 3' of the scissile bond. These end-joining reactions suggest two potential modes of topoisomerase-mediated recombination that differ in their requirements for DNA homology.     

Contacts between the 5' nuclease of DNA polymerase I and its DNA substrate

The 5' nuclease of DNA polymerase I (Pol I) of Escherichia coli is a member of an important class of prokaryotic and eukaryotic nucleases, involved in DNA replication and repair, with specificity for the junction between single-stranded and duplex DNA. We have investigated the interaction of the 5' nuclease domain with DNA substrates from the standpoint of both the protein and the DNA. Phosphate ethylation interference showed that the nuclease binds to the nucleotides immediately surrounding the cleavage site and also contacts the complementary strand one-half turn away, indicating that contacts are made to one face only of the duplex portion of the DNA substrate. Phosphodiester contacts were investigated further using DNA substrates carrying unique methylphosphonate substitutions, together with mutations in the 5' nuclease. These experiments suggested that two highly conserved basic residues, Lys(78) and Arg(81), are close to the phosphodiester immediately 5' to the cleavage site, while a third highly conserved residue, Arg(20), may interact with the phosphodiester 3' to the cleavage site. Our results provide strong support for a DNA binding model proposed for the related exonuclease from bacteriophage T5, in which the conserved basic residues mentioned above define the two ends of a helical arch that forms part of the single-stranded DNA-binding region. The nine highly conserved carboxylates in the active site region appear to play a relatively minor role in substrate binding, although they are crucial for catalysis. In addition to binding the DNA backbone around the cleavage point, the 5' nuclease also has a binding site for one or two frayed bases at the 3' end of an upstream primer strand. In agreement with work in related systems, 5' nuclease cleavage is blocked by duplex DNA in the 5' tail, but the enzyme is quite tolerant of abasic DNA or polarity reversal within the 5' tail.     

Site-specific interaction of vaccinia virus topoisomerase I with duplex DNA. Minimal DNA substrate for strand cleavage in vitro.

Purified vaccinia virus DNA topoisomerase I forms a cleavable complex with duplex DNA at a conserved sequence element 5'(C/T)CCTTdecreases in the incised DNA strand. DNase I footprint studies show that vaccinia topoisomerase protects the region around the site of covalent adduct formation from nuclease digestion. On the cleaved DNA strand, the protected region extends from +13 to -13 (+1 being the site of cleavage). On the noncleaved strand, the protected region extends from +13 to -9. Similar nuclease protection is observed for a mutant topoisomerase (containing a Tyr ---- Phe substitution at the active site amino acid 274) that is catalytically inert and does not form the covalent intermediate. Thus, vaccinia topoisomerase is a specific DNA binding protein independent of its competence in transesterification. By studying the cleavage of a series of 12-mer DNA duplexes in which the position of the CCCTTdecreases motif within the substrate is systematically phased, the "minimal" substrate for cleavage has been defined; cleavage requires six nucleotides upstream of the cleavage site and two nucleotides downstream of the site. An analysis of the cleavage of oligomer substrates mutated singly in the CCCTT sequence reveals a hierarchy of mutational effects based on position within the pentamer motif and the nature of the sequence alteration.     

Nonpolar nucleobase analogs illuminate requirements for site-specific DNA cleavage by vaccinia topoisomerase

Vaccinia DNA topoisomerase forms a covalent DNA-(3'-phosphotyrosyl)-enzyme intermediate at a specific target site 5'-C(+5)C(+4)C(+3)T(+2)T(+1)p downward arrow N(-1) in duplex DNA. Here we study the effects of nonpolar pyrimidine isosteres difluorotoluene (F) and monofluorotoluene (D) and the nonpolar purine analog indole at individual positions of the scissile and nonscissile strands on the rate of single-turnover DNA transesterification and the cleavage-religation equilibrium. Comparison of the effects of nonpolar base substitution to the effects of abasic lesions reported previously allowed us to surmise the relative contributions of base-stacking and polar edge interactions to the DNA transesterification reactions. For example, the deleterious effects of eliminating the +2T base on the scissile strand were rectified by introducing the nonpolar F isostere, whereas the requirement for the +1T base was not elided by F substitution. We impute a role for +1T in recruiting the catalytic residue Lys-167 to the active site. Topoisomerase is especially sensitive to suppression of DNA cleavage upon elimination of the +4G and +3G bases of the nonscissile strand. Indole provided little or no gain of function relative to abasic lesions. Inosine substitutions for +4G and +3G had no effect on transesterification rate, implying that the guanine exocyclic amine is not a critical determinant of DNA cleavage. Prior studies of 2-aminopurine and 7-deazaguanine effects had shown that the O6 and N7 of guanine were also not critical. These findings suggest that either the topoisomerase makes functionally redundant contacts with polar atoms (likely via Tyr-136, a residue important for precleavage active site assembly) or that it relies on contacts to N1 or N3 of the purine ring. The cleavage-religation equilibrium is strongly skewed toward trapping of the covalent intermediate by elimination of the +1A base of the nonscissile strand; the reaction equilibrium is restored by +1 indole, signifying that base stacking flanking the nick is critical for the religation step. Our findings highlight base isosteres as valuable tools for the analysis of proteins that act on DNA in a site-specific manner.     

DNA recognition of base analogue and chemically modified substrates by the TaqI restriction endonuclease.

It has been proposed that protein-DNA recognition is mediated via specific hydrogen bond, hydrophobic, and/or electrostatic interactions between the protein and DNA surfaces. We have attempted to map and quantitate the energies of these interactions for the TaqI endonuclease by constructing substrates substituted with base or phosphate analogues that either remove or sterically obstruct particular functional groups in the canonical TCGA sequence. The DNA backbone was also modified using a chemical approach (phosphate ethylation) which identified several phosphates in the recognition sequence essential for cleavage. The base analogues, N6-methyl-A, N7-deaza-A, N7-deaza-G, inosine, N4-methyl-C, 5-methyl-C, uracil, 5-bromo-U, and the phosphate analogues, alpha-thio-A, alpha-thio-G, alpha-thio-T, alpha-thio-A, were substituted for their corresponding unmodified counterpart in one strand of the TCGA duplex. The effects of these analogues were monitored by measuring the steady state (Km, kcat) and single-turnover (kst) kinetic constants. Only the N6-methyl-A-substituted DNA, which mimics in vivo methylation, was unreactive while the remaining analogue substitutions exhibited Michaelis-Menten kinetics. In general, the Km was either unchanged or lowered by the analogue substitutions. In contrast, many of the analogues severely reduced kcat, suggesting the modified functional groups served mainly to destabilize the transition state. Single-turnover measurements paralleled the kcat results, pointing to the N7 and N6 of A, the N7 of G, and one of the nonbridging oxygens 3' to T as putative contacts made in achieving the transition state. Substrates with double substitutions displayed simple additivity of delta delta G" implying that these changes behaved independently. The unmodified strand in 10 out of 12 hemisubstituted substrates had a normal kst value suggesting that a particular cleavage center is controlled predominantly by recognition of determinants on the same strand as the scissile bond. These results are discussed in relation to base analogue work from the EcoRI, RsrI, and EcoRV restriction endonucleases.     

Major groove interactions of vaccinia Topo I provide specificity by optimally positioning the covalent phosphotyrosine linkage

Vaccinia DNA topoisomerase (vTopo) is a prototypic eukaryotic type I topoisomerase that shows high specificity for nucleophilic substitution at a single phosphodiester linkage in the pentapyrimidine recognition sequence 5'-(C/T)+5 C+4 C+3 T+2 T+1 p / N(-1). This reaction involves reversible transesterification where the active site tyrosine of the enzyme and a 5'-hydroxyl nucleophile of DNA compete for attack at the phosphoryl group. The finite lifetime of the covalent phosphotyrosine adduct allows the enzyme to relax multiple supercoils by rotation of the 5'-OH strand before the DNA backbone is religated. To dissect the nature of the unique sequence specificity, subtle modifications to the major groove of the GGGAA 5'-sequence of the nonscissile strand were introduced and their effects on each step of the catalytic cycle were measured. Although these modifications had no effect on noncovalent DNA binding (K(D)) or the rate of reversible DNA cleavage (k(cl)), significant decreases in the cleavage equilibrium (K(cl) = k(cl)/k(r)) arising from increased rates of 5'-hydroxyl attack (k(r)) at the phosphotyrosine linkage were observed. These data and other findings support a model in which major groove interactions are used to position the phosphotyrosine linkage relative to the mobile 5'-hydroxyl nucleophile. In the absence of native sequence interactions, the phosphotyrosine has a higher probability of encountering the 5'-hydroxyl nucleophile, leading to an enhanced rate of ligation and a diminished equilibrium constant for cleavage. By this unusual specificity mechanism, the enzyme prevents formation of stable covalent adducts at nonconsensus sites in genomic DNA.     

Recombinogenic flap ligation pathway for intrinsic repair of topoisomerase IB-induced double-strand breaks

Topoisomerase IB catalyzes recombinogenic DNA strand transfer reactions in vitro and in vivo. Here we characterize a new pathway of topoisomerase-mediated DNA ligation in vitro (flap ligation) in which vaccinia virus topoisomerase bound to a blunt-end DNA joins the covalently held strand to a 5' resected end of a duplex DNA containing a 3' tail. The joining reaction occurs with high efficiency when the sequence of the 3' tail is complementary to that of the scissile strand immediately 5' of the cleavage site. A 6-nucleotide segment of complementarity suffices for efficient flap ligation. Invasion of the flap into the duplex apparently occurs while topoisomerase remains bound to DNA, thereby implying a conformational flexibility of the topoisomerase clamp around the DNA target site. The 3' flap acceptor DNA mimics a processed end in the double-strand-break-repair recombination pathway. Our findings suggest that topoisomerase-induced breaks may be rectified by flap ligation, with ensuing genomic deletions or translocations.     

Crystal structure of bacteriophage T4 5' nuclease in complex with a branched DNA reveals how flap endonuclease-1 family nucleases bind their substrates

Bacteriophage T4 RNase H, a flap endonuclease-1 family nuclease, removes RNA primers from lagging strand fragments. It has both 5' nuclease and flap endonuclease activities. Our previous structure of native T4 RNase H (PDB code 1TFR) revealed an active site composed of highly conserved Asp residues and two bound hydrated magnesium ions. Here, we report the crystal structure of T4 RNase H in complex with a fork DNA substrate bound in its active site. This is the first structure of a flap endonuclease-1 family protein with its complete branched substrate. The fork duplex interacts with an extended loop of the helix-hairpin-helix motif class 2. The 5' arm crosses over the active site, extending below the bridge (helical arch) region. Cleavage assays of this DNA substrate identify a primary cut site 7-bases in from the 5' arm. The scissile phosphate, the first bond in the duplex DNA adjacent to the 5' arm, lies above a magnesium binding site. The less ordered 3' arm reaches toward the C and N termini of the enzyme, which are binding sites for T4 32 protein and T4 45 clamp, respectively. In the crystal structure, the scissile bond is located within the double-stranded DNA, between the first two duplex nucleotides next to the 5' arm, and lies above a magnesium binding site. This complex provides important insight into substrate recognition and specificity of the flap endonuclease-1 enzymes.     

DNA strand exchange catalyzed by proteins from vaccinia virus-infected cells.

Vaccinia virus infection induces expression of a protein which can catalyze joint molecule formation between a single-stranded circular DNA and a homologous linear duplex. The kinetics of appearance of the enzyme parallels that of vaccinia virus DNA polymerase and suggests it is an early viral gene product. Extracts were prepared from vaccinia virus-infected HeLa cells, and the strand exchange assay was used to follow purification of this activity through five chromatographic steps. The most highly purified fraction contained three major polypeptides of 110 +/- 10, 52 +/- 5, and 32 +/- 3 kDa. The purified protein requires Mg2+ for activity, and this requirement cannot be satisfied by Mn2+ or Ca2+. One end of the linear duplex substrate must share homology with the single-stranded circle, although this homology requirement is not very high, as 10% base substitutions had no effect on the overall efficiency of pairing. As with many other eukaryotic strand exchange proteins, there was no requirement for ATP, and ATP analogs were not inhibitors. Electron microscopy was used to show that the joint molecules formed in these reactions were composed of a partially duplex circle of DNA bearing a displaced single-strand and a duplex linear tail. The recovery of these structures shows that the enzyme catalyzes true strand exchange. There is also a unique polarity to the strand exchange reaction. The enzyme pairs the 3' end of the duplex minus strand with the plus-stranded homolog, thus extending hybrid DNA in a 3'-to-5' direction with respect to the minus strand. Which viral gene (if any) encodes the enzyme is not yet known, but analysis of temperature-sensitive mutants shows that activity does not require the D5R gene product. Curiously, v-SEP appears to copurify with vaccinia virus DNA polymerase, although the activities can be partially resolved on phosphocellulose columns.