Protein Sliding along DNA: Dynamics and Structural Characterization

Efficient search of DNA by proteins is fundamental to the control of cellular regulatory processes. It is currently believed that protein sliding, hopping, and transfer between adjacent DNA segments, during which the protein nonspecifically interacts with DNA, are central to the speed of their specific recognition. In this study, we focused on the structural and dynamic features of proteins when they scan the DNA. Using a simple computational model that represents protein-DNA interactions by electrostatic forces, we identified that the protein makes use of identical binding interfaces for both nonspecific and specific DNA interactions. Accordingly, in its one-dimensional diffusion along the DNA, the protein is bound at the major groove and performs a helical motion, which is stochastic and driven by thermal diffusion. A microscopic structural insight into sliding from our model, which is governed by electrostatic forces, corroborates previous experimental studies suggesting that the active site of some regulatory proteins continually faces the interior of the DNA groove while sliding along sugar-phosphate rails. The diffusion coefficient of spiral motion along the major groove of the DNA is not affected by salt concentration, but the efficiency of the search can be significantly enhanced by increasing salt concentration due to a larger number of hopping events. We found that the most efficient search comprises ∼ 20% sliding along the DNA and ∼ 80% hopping and three-dimensional diffusion. The presented model that captures various experimental features of facilitated diffusion has the potency to address other questions regarding the nature of DNA search, such as the sliding characteristics of oligomeric and multidomain DNA-binding proteins that are ubiquitous in the cell.