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Structural basis for the topological specificity function of MinE

Nature Structural Biology volume 7, pages 1013–1017 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Correct positioning of the division septum in Escherichia coli depends on the coordinated action of the MinC, MinD and MinE proteins. Topological specificity is conferred on the MinCD division inhibitor by MinE, which counters MinCD activity only in the vicinity of the preferred midcell division site. Here we report the structure of the homodimeric topological specificity domain of Escherichia coli MinE and show that it forms a novel αβ sandwich. Structure-directed mutagenesis of conserved surface residues has enabled us to identify a spatially restricted site on the surface of the protein that is critical for the topological specificity function of MinE.

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Figure 1: Primary, secondary, and tertiary structure of MinETSD.
Figure 2: Hydrophobic core of MinETSD.
Figure 3: Mutagenesis of MinE.
Figure 4: Hypothetical model of MinE action.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by an NIH grant to L.I.R. and a grant from the Australian NHMRC to G.F.K. S.L.R. was supported in part by an HFSP Long Term Fellowship. Thanks to S. Robson and M.J. Osborn for help with graphics and for critical proofreading, respectively. Preliminary sequence data was obtained from The Institute for Genomic Research website at http://www.tigr.org.

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Author notes

  1. Yu-Ling Shih and Mark W. Maciejewski: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington , 06032, Connecticut, USA

    Glenn F. King, Mark W. Maciejewski, Naresh P.S. Bains, Borlan Pan, Susan L. Rowland & Gregory P. Mullen

  2. Department of Microbiology, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington , 06032, Connecticut, USA

    Glenn F. King, Yu-Ling Shih & Lawrence I. Rothfield

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  1. Glenn F. King
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Correspondence to Glenn F. King.

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King, G., Shih, YL., Maciejewski, M. et al. Structural basis for the topological specificity function of MinE. Nat Struct Mol Biol 7, 1013–1017 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/80917

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