Project description:Cohesin is a multisubunit complex that mediates sister-chromatid cohesion. Its Smc1 and Smc3 subunits possess ABC-like ATPases at one end of 50 nm long coiled coils. At the other ends are pseudosymmetrical hinge domains that interact to create V-shaped Smc1/Smc3 heterodimers. N- and C-terminal domains within cohesin's kleisin subunit Scc1 bind to Smc3 and Smc1 ATPase heads respectively, thereby creating a huge tripartite ring. It has been suggested that cohesin associates with chromosomes by trapping DNA within its ring. Opening of the ring due to cleavage of Scc1 by separase destroys sister-chromatid cohesion and triggers anaphase. We show that cohesin's hinges are not merely dimerization domains. They are essential for cohesin's association with chromosomes, which is blocked by artificially holding hinge domains together but not by preventing Scc1's dissociation from SMC ATPase heads. Our results suggest that entry of DNA into cohesin's ring requires transient dissociation of Smc1 and Smc3 hinge domains. Keywords: Cohesin loading, Scc1, Smc1, Smc3, Hinge opening, ChIP-chip
Project description:Smc/ScpAB promotes chromosome segregation in prokaryotes, presumably by compacting and resolving nascent sister chromosomes. The underlying mechanisms, however, are poorly understood. Here, we investigate the role of the Smc ATPase activity in the recruitment of Smc/ScpAB to the Bacillus subtilis chromosome. We demonstrate that targeting of Smc/ScpAB to ParB/parS loading sites is strictly dependent on engagement of Smc head domains and relies on an open organization of the Smc coiled coils. We find that dimerization of the Smc hinge domain stabilizes closed Smc rods and hinders head engagement as well as chromosomal targeting. Conversely, the ScpAB sub-complex promotes head engagement and Smc rod opening and thereby facilitates recruitment of Smc to parS sites. Upon ATP hydrolysis, Smc/ScpAB is released from loading sites and relocates within the chromosomeâpresumably through translocation along DNA double helices. Our findings define an intermediate state in the process of chromosome organization by Smc. ChIP-Seq experiments were performed on wild type and mutant cells of Bacillus subtilis 1A700.
Project description:As predicted by the notion that sister chromatid cohesion is mediated by entrapment of sister DNAs inside cohesin rings, there is a perfect correlation between co-entrapment of circular minichromosomes and sister chromatid cohesion. In most cells where cohesin loads onto chromosomes but fails to form cohesion, loading is accompanied by entrapment of individual DNAs. However, cohesin with a hinge whose positively charged lumen has been neutralized not only loads onto and translocates along chromatin but also organizes it into chromatid-like threads, despite largely failing to entrap DNAs inside its ring. Thus, cohesin engages chromatin in both a non-topological and a topological manner. Further, mutation of three highly conserved lysines within the Smc1 hinge abolishes all loading without affecting cohesin’s initial recruitment to centromers or its ability to hydrolyze ATP. We suggest that loading and translocation are mediated by conformational changes in cohesin’s hinge driven by cycles of ATP hydrolysis.
Project description:Smc/ScpAB promotes chromosome segregation in prokaryotes, presumably by compacting and resolving nascent sister chromosomes. The underlying mechanisms, however, are poorly understood. Here, we investigate the role of the Smc ATPase activity in the recruitment of Smc/ScpAB to the Bacillus subtilis chromosome. We demonstrate that targeting of Smc/ScpAB to ParB/parS loading sites is strictly dependent on engagement of Smc head domains and relies on an open organization of the Smc coiled coils. We find that dimerization of the Smc hinge domain stabilizes closed Smc rods and hinders head engagement as well as chromosomal targeting. Conversely, the ScpAB sub-complex promotes head engagement and Smc rod opening and thereby facilitates recruitment of Smc to parS sites. Upon ATP hydrolysis, Smc/ScpAB is released from loading sites and relocates within the chromosome—presumably through translocation along DNA double helices. Our findings define an intermediate state in the process of chromosome organization by Smc.
Project description:Structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC)-kleisin complexes organize chromosomal DNAs in all domains of life, where they have key roles in chromosome segregation, DNA repair and regulation of gene expression. They function through topological entrapment and active translocation of DNA, but the underlying conformational changes are largely unclear. Using structural biology, mass spectrometry and cross-linking, we investigated the architecture of two evolutionarily distant SMC-kleisin complexes: proteobacterial MukBEF and eukaryotic cohesin. We show that both contain a dynamic coiled-coil discontinuity, the elbow, near the middle of their arms that permits a folded conformation. Bending at the elbow brings into proximity the hinge dimerization domain and the head/kleisin module, situated at opposite ends of the arms. Our findings favor SMC activity models that include a large conformational change in the arms, such as a relative movement between DNA binding sites during DNA loading and translocation
Project description:PleasStructural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC)-kleisin complexes organize chromosomal DNAs in all domains of life, where they have key roles in chromosome segregation, DNA repair and regulation of gene expression. They function through topological entrapment and active translocation of DNA, but the underlying conformational changes are largely unclear. Using structural biology, mass spectrometry and cross-linking, we investigated the architecture of two evolutionarily distant SMC-kleisin complexes: proteobacterial MukBEF and eukaryotic cohesin. We show that both contain a dynamic coiled-coil discontinuity, the elbow, near the middle of their arms that permits a folded conformation. Bending at the elbow brings into proximity the hinge dimerization domain and the head/kleisin module, situated at opposite ends of the arms. Our findings favor SMC activity models that include a large conformational change in the arms, such as a relative movement between DNA binding sites during DNA loading and translocatione provide an overall description of your study, think something similar in scope to the manuscript abstract
Project description:Sister chromatid cohesion conferred by entrapment of sister DNAs within a tripartite ring formed between cohesinâs Scc1, Smc1, and Smc3 subunits is generated during S and eventually destroyed at anaphase through cleavage of Scc1 by separase. Throughout the cell cycle, cohesinâs association with chromosomes is controlled by opposing activities: loading by the Scc2/4 complex and release by a separase independent releasing activity. Co-entrapment of sister DNAs during replication is accompanied by acetylation of Smc3 by Eco1, which blocks releasing activity and ensures that sisters remain stably connected. Because fusion of Smc3 to Scc1 prevents release and bypasses the requirement for Eco1, we suggested that release is mediated by disengagement of the Smc3/Scc1 interface. We now show that all mutations capable of bypassing Eco1, be they in cohesinâs Smc1, Smc3, Scc1,Wapl, Pds5, or Scc3 subunits, greatly reduce dissociation of N-terminal cleavage fragments of Scc1 (NScc1) from Smc3. We show that this process involves interaction between Smc ATPase heads and is inhibited by Smc3 acetylation Effect of mutations QQ and EQ in Smc3 on cohesin loading onto chromosomes
Project description:The functions of cohesin are central to genome integrity, chromosome organization, and transcription regulation through its prevention of premature sister-chromatid separation and the formation of DNA loops. The loading of cohesin onto chromatin depends on the Scc2-Scc4 complex, however, little is known about how it stimulates the cohesin loading activity. Here we determine the large “hook” structure of Scc2 responsible for catalyzing cohesin loading. We identify key Scc2 surfaces that are crucial for DNA binding and for cohesin loading in vivo. Using previously determined structures and modeling, we derive a pseudo-atomic structure of the full-length Scc2-Scc4 complex. Finally, our crosslinking and electron microscopy analyses reveal that Scc2-Scc4 utilizes its modular structure to make multiple contacts with a folded cohesin at an interface created by the cohesin head-hinge interaction.
Project description:Cohesin’s association with and translocation along chromosomal DNAs depend on an ATP hydrolysis cycle driving the association and subsequent release of DNA. This involves DNA being ‘clamped’ by Scc2 and ATP-dependent engagement of cohesin’s Smc1 and Smc3 head domains. Scc2’s replacement by Pds5 abrogates cohesin’s ATPase and has an important role in halting DNA loop extrusion. The ATPase domains of all SMC proteins are separated from their hinge dimerisation domains by 50 nm long coiled coils, which have been observed to zip up along their entire length and fold around an elbow, thereby greatly shortening the distance between hinges and ATPase heads. Whether folding exists in vivo or has any physiological importance is not known. We present here a cryo-EM structure of the apo form of cohesin that reveals the structure of folded and zipped up coils in unprecedented detail and shows that Scc2 can associate with Smc1’s ATPase head even when it is fully disengaged from that of Smc3. Using cysteine-specific cross-linking, we show that cohesin’s coiled coils are frequently folded in vivo, including when cohesin holds sister chromatids together. Moreover, we describe a mutation (SMC1D588Y) within Smc1’s hinge that alters how Scc2 and Pds5 interact with Smc1’s hinge and that enables Scc2 to support loading in the absence of its normal partner Scc4. The mutant phenotype of loading without Scc4 is only explicable if loading depends on an association between Scc2/4 and cohesin’s hinge, which in turn requires coiled coil folding.