Mechanisms of RecQ helicases in pathways of DNA metabolism and maintenance of genomic stability

Helicases are molecular motor proteins that couple the hydrolysis of NTP to nucleic acid unwinding. The growing number of DNA helicases implicated in human disease suggests that their vital specialized roles in cellular pathways are important for the maintenance of genome stability. In particular, mutations in genes of the RecQ family of DNA helicases result in chromosomal instability diseases of premature aging and/or cancer predisposition. We will discuss the mechanisms of RecQ helicases in pathways of DNA metabolism. A review of RecQ helicases from bacteria to human reveals their importance in genomic stability by their participation with other proteins to resolve DNA replication and recombination intermediates. In the light of their known catalytic activities and protein interactions, proposed models for RecQ function will be summarized with an emphasis on how this distinct class of enzymes functions in chromosomal stability maintenance and prevention of human disease and cancer.     

G-quadruplexes and helicases

Guanine-rich DNA strands can fold in vitro into non-canonical DNA structures called G-quadruplexes. These structures may be very stable under physiological conditions. Evidence suggests that G-quadruplex structures may act as ‘knots’ within genomic DNA, and it has been hypothesized that proteins may have evolved to remove these structures. The first indication of how G-quadruplex structures could be unfolded enzymatically came in the late 1990s with reports that some well-known duplex DNA helicases resolved these structures in vitro. Since then, the number of studies reporting G-quadruplex DNA unfolding by helicase enzymes has rapidly increased. The present review aims to present a general overview of the helicase/G-quadruplex field.     

RNA helicases in bacteria

1. Download : Download high-res image (115KB)
2. Download : Download full-size image

     

Structural biology of MCM helicases

The eukaryotic MCM2-7 complex is recruited onto origins of replication during the G1 phase of the cell cycle and acts as the main helicase at the replication fork during the S phase. Over the last few years a number of structural reports on MCM proteins using both electron microscopy and protein crystallography have been published. The crystal structures of two (almost) full-length archaeal homologs provide the first atomic pictures of a MCM helicase. However one of the structures is at low resolution and the other is of an inactive MCM. Moreover, both proteins are monomeric in the crystal, whereas the activity of the complex is critically dependent on oligomerization. Lower resolution structures derived from electron microscopy studies are therefore crucial to complement the crystallographic analysis and to assemble the multimeric complex that is active in the cell. A critical analysis of all the structural results elucidates the potential conformational changes and dynamic behavior of MCM helicase to provide a first insight into the gamut of molecular configurations adopted during the processes of DNA melting and unwinding.     

Active and passive mechanisms of helicases

In this work, we discuss the active or passive character of helicases. In the past years, several studies have used the theoretical framework proposed by Betterton and Julicher [Betterton, M.D. and Julicher, F. (2005) Opening of nucleic-acid double strands by helicases: active versus passive opening. Phys. Rev. E, 71, 11904–11911.] to analyse the unwinding data and assess the mechanism of the helicase under study (active versus passive). However, this procedure has given rise to apparently contradictory interpretations: helicases exhibiting similar behaviour have been classified as both active and passive enzymes [Johnson, D.S., Bai, L. Smith, B.Y., Patel, S.S. and Wang, M.D. (2007) Single-molecule studies reveal dynamics of DNA unwinding by the ring-shaped T7 helicase. Cell, 129, 1299–1309; Lionnet, T., Spiering, M.M., Benkovic, S.J., Bensimon, D. and Croquette, V. (2007) Real-time observation of bacteriophage T4 gp41 helicase reveals an unwinding mechanism Proc. Natl Acid. Sci., 104, 19790–19795]. In this work, we show that when the helicase under study has not been previously well characterized (namely, if its step size and rate of slippage are unknown) a multi-parameter fit to the afore-mentioned model can indeed lead to contradictory interpretations. We thus propose to differentiate between active and passive helicases on the basis of the comparison between their observed translocation velocity on single-stranded nucleic acid and their unwinding rate of double-stranded nucleic acid (with various GC content and under different tensions). A threshold separating active from passive behaviour is proposed following an analysis of the reported activities of different helicases. We study and contrast the mechanism of two helicases that exemplify these two behaviours: active for the RecQ helicase and passive for the gp41 helicase.     

RNA helicases and remodeling proteins

It is becoming increasingly clear that RNA molecules play a major role in all aspects of metabolism. The conformational state and stability of RNA are controlled by RNA remodeling proteins, which are ubiquitous motor proteins in the cell. Here, we review advances in our understanding of the structure and function of three major structural families of RNA remodeling proteins, the hexameric ring proteins, the processive monomeric RNA translocase/helicases, and the functionally diverse DEAD-box remodeling proteins. New studies have revealed molecular mechanisms for coupling between ATP hydrolysis and unwinding, the physical basis for regulatory control by cofactors, and novel functions for RNA remodeling proteins.     

Yeast and human mitochondrial helicases

Mitochondria are semiautonomous organelles which contain their own genome. Both maintenance and expression of mitochondrial DNA require activity of RNA and DNA helicases. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae the nuclear genome encodes four DExH/D superfamily members (MSS116, SUV3, MRH4, IRC3) that act as helicases and/or RNA chaperones. Their activity is necessary for mitochondrial RNA splicing, degradation, translation and genome maintenance. In humans the ortholog of SUV3 (hSUV3, SUPV3L1) so far is the best described mitochondrial RNA helicase. The enzyme, together with the matrix-localized pool of PNPase (PNPT1), forms an RNA-degrading complex called the mitochondrial degradosome, which localizes to distinct structures (D-foci). Global regulation of mitochondrially encoded genes can be achieved by changing mitochondrial DNA copy number. This way the proteins involved in its replication, like the Twinkle helicase (c10orf2), can indirectly regulate gene expression. Here, we describe yeast and human mitochondrial helicases that are directly involved in mitochondrial RNA metabolism, and present other helicases that participate in mitochondrial DNA replication and maintenance. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: The Biology of RNA helicases — Modulation for life.     

DNA helicases: 'inching forward'

Recently determined crystal structures of PcrA helicase complexed with a DNA substrate have revealed details of the helicase mechanism. PcrA and UvrD helicases have been shown to be functional as monomers, challenging previous suggestions that all helicases are required to be oligomeric. Crystal structures of the hexameric helicases RepA and T7 gene 4 explain the formation of hexameric assemblies from identical monomers with RecA-like folds, but their molecular mechanism remains elusive.     

Non-replicative helicases at the replication fork

Reactivation of stalled or collapsed replication forks is an essential process in bacteria. Restart systems operate to restore the 5'-->3' replicative helicase, DnaB, to the lagging-strand template. However, other non-replicative 3'-->5' helicases play an important role in the restart process as well. Here we examine the DNA-binding specificity of three of the latter group, PriA, Rep, and UvrD. Only PriA and Rep display structure-specific fork binding. Interestingly, their specificity is opposite: PriA binds a leading-strand fork, presumably reflecting its restart activity in directing loading of DnaB to the lagging-strand template. Rep binds a lagging-strand fork, presumably reflecting its role in partially displacing Okazaki fragments that originate near the fork junction. This activity is necessary for generating a single-stranded landing pad for DnaB. While UvrD shows little structure-specificity, there is a slight preference for lagging-strand forks, suggesting that there might be some redundancy between Rep and UvrD and possibly explaining the observed synthetic lethality that occurs when mutations in the genes encoding these two proteins are combined.     

On helicases and other motor proteins

Helicases are molecular machines that utilize energy derived from ATP hydrolysis to move along nucleic acids and to separate base-paired nucleotides. The movement of the helicase can also be described as a stationary helicase that pumps nucleic acid. Recent structural data for the hexameric E1 helicase of papillomavirus in complex with single-stranded DNA and MgADP has provided a detailed atomic and mechanistic picture of its ATP-driven DNA translocation. The structural and mechanistic features of this helicase are compared with the hexameric helicase prototypes T7gp4 and SV40 T-antigen. The ATP-binding site architectures of these proteins are structurally similar to the sites of other prototypical ATP-driven motors such as F1-ATPase, suggesting related roles for the individual site residues in the ATPase activity.     

Human diseases deficient in RecQ helicases

RecQ helicases are conserved from bacteria to man. Mutations in three of the human RecQ family members give rise to genetic disorders characterized by genomic instability and a predisposition to cancer. RecQ helicases are therefore caretakers of the genome, and although they do not directly regulate tumorigenesis, they influence stability and the rate of accumulation of genetic alterations, which in turn, result in tumorigenesis. Maintenance of genome stability by RecQ helicases likely involves their participation in DNA replication, recombination, and repair pathways.