Article
- The EMBO Journal (2007) 26, 867 - 877
- doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7601537
Published online: 25 January 2007
Subject Category:
Structural conservation of RecF and Rad50: implications for DNA recognition and RecF function
Olga Koroleva1, Nodar Makharashvili1, Charmain T Courcelle2, Justin Courcelle2 and Sergey Korolev1
- Edward A Doisy Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Biology, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA
Correspondence to:
Sergey Korolev, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, St Louis University School of Medicine, 1402 South Grand Blvd, St Louis, MO 63104, USA. Tel.: +1 314 977 9261; Fax: +1 314 977 9205; E-mail: korolevs@slu.edu
Received 10 July 2006; Accepted 8 December 2006
Abstract
RecF, together with RecO and RecR, belongs to a ubiquitous group of recombination mediators (RMs) that includes eukaryotic proteins such as Rad52 and BRCA2. RMs help maintain genome stability in the presence of DNA damage by loading RecA-like recombinases and displacing single-stranded DNA-binding proteins. Here, we present the crystal structure of RecF from Deinococcus radiodurans. RecF exhibits a high degree of structural similarity with the head domain of Rad50, but lacks its long coiled-coil region. The structural homology between RecF and Rad50 is extensive, encompassing the ATPase subdomain and the so-called 'Lobe II' subdomain of Rad50. The pronounced structural conservation between bacterial RecF and evolutionarily diverged eukaryotic Rad50 implies a conserved mechanism of DNA binding and recognition of the boundaries of double-stranded DNA regions. The RecF structure, mutagenesis of conserved motifs and ATP-dependent dimerization of RecF are discussed with respect to its role in promoting presynaptic complex formation at DNA damage sites.
Keywords:
- DNA binding,
- Rad50,
- RecF,
- recombination,
- structure
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated
REVIEWS
Pathogenesis of parkinson's disease: dopamine, vesicles and α-synuclein
Nature Reviews Neuroscience Review (01 Dec 2002)
Protein palmitoylation: a regulator of neuronal development and function
Nature Reviews Neuroscience Review (01 Oct 2002)
NEWS AND VIEWS
Genetic recombination From competition to collaboration
Nature News and Views (22 Jan 1998)
RESEARCH
Ring-shaped architecture of RecR: implications for its role in homologous recombinational DNA repair
The EMBO Journal Article (19 May 2004)
Crystal structure and mutational study of RecOR provide insight into its mode of DNA binding
The EMBO Journal Article (11 Jul 2007)
