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A novel dimerization motif in the C-terminal domain of the Thermus thermophilus DEAD box helicase Hera confers substantial flexibility.

ABSTRACT: DEAD box helicases are involved in nearly all aspects of RNA metabolism. They share a common helicase core, and may comprise additional domains that contribute to RNA binding. The Thermus thermophilus helicase Hera is the first dimeric DEAD box helicase. Crystal structures of Hera fragments reveal a bipartite C-terminal domain with a novel dimerization motif and an RNA-binding module. We provide a first glimpse on the additional RNA-binding module outside the Hera helicase core. The dimerization and RNA-binding domains are connected to the C-terminal RecA domain by a hinge region that confers exceptional flexibility onto the helicase, allowing for different juxtapositions of the RecA-domains in the dimer. Combination of the previously determined N-terminal Hera structure with the C-terminal Hera structures allows generation of a model for the entire Hera dimer, where two helicase cores can work in conjunction on large RNA substrates.

SUBMITTER: Klostermeier D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2632915 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A novel dimerization motif in the C-terminal domain of the Thermus thermophilus DEAD box helicase Hera confers substantial flexibility.

Klostermeier Dagmar D Rudolph Markus G MG

Nucleic acids research 20081202 2

DEAD box helicases are involved in nearly all aspects of RNA metabolism. They share a common helicase core, and may comprise additional domains that contribute to RNA binding. The Thermus thermophilus helicase Hera is the first dimeric DEAD box helicase. Crystal structures of Hera fragments reveal a bipartite C-terminal domain with a novel dimerization motif and an RNA-binding module. We provide a first glimpse on the additional RNA-binding module outside the Hera helicase core. The dimerization ...[more]

PMID: 19050012

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Project description:NurA and HerA are thought to be essential proteins for DNA end resection in archaeal homologous recombination systems. Thermus thermophilus, an extremely thermophilic eubacterium, has proteins that exhibit significant sequence similarity to archaeal NurA and HerA. To unveil the cellular function of NurA and HerA in T. thermophilus, we performed phenotypic analysis of disruptant mutants of nurA and herA with or without DNA-damaging agents. The nurA and herA genes were not essential for survival, and their deletion had no effect on cell growth and genome integrity. Unexpectedly, these disruptants of T. thermophilus showed increased resistance to UV irradiation and mitomycin C treatment. Further, these disruptants and the wild type displayed no difference in sensitivity to oxidative stress and a DNA replication inhibitor. T. thermophilus NurA had nuclease activity, and HerA had ATPase. The overexpression of loss-of-function mutants of nurA and herA in the respective disruptants showed no complementation, suggesting their enzymatic activities were involved in the UV sensitivity. In addition, T. thermophilus NurA and HerA interacted with each other in vitro and in vivo, forming a complex with 2:6 stoichiometry. These results suggest that the NurA-HerA complex has an architecture similar to that of archaeal counterparts but that it impairs, rather than promotes, the repair of photoproducts and DNA cross-links in T. thermophilus cells. This cellular function is distinctly different from that of archaeal NurA and HerA.IMPORTANCE Many nucleases and helicases are engaged in homologous recombination-mediated DNA repair. Previous in vitro analyses in archaea indicated that NurA and HerA are the recombination-related nuclease and helicase. However, their cellular function had not been fully understood, especially in bacterial cells. In this study, we performed in vivo analyses to address the cellular function of nurA and herA in an extremely thermophilic bacterium, Thermus thermophilus As a result, T. thermophilus NurA and HerA exhibited an interfering effect on the repair of several instances of DNA damage in the cell, which is in contrast to the results in archaea. This finding will facilitate our understanding of the diverse cellular functions of the recombination-related nucleases and helicases.

Dataset Information

A novel dimerization motif in the C-terminal domain of the Thermus thermophilus DEAD box helicase Hera confers substantial flexibility.

Publications

A novel dimerization motif in the C-terminal domain of the Thermus thermophilus DEAD box helicase Hera confers substantial flexibility.

Similar Datasets

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