Crystal structure of a Rad51 filament

Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2004 Aug;11(8):791-6. doi: 10.1038/nsmb795. Epub 2004 Jul 4.

Abstract

Rad51, the major eukaryotic homologous recombinase, is important for the repair of DNA damage and the maintenance of genomic diversity and stability. The active form of this DNA-dependent ATPase is a helical filament within which the search for homology and strand exchange occurs. Here we present the crystal structure of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rad51 filament formed by a gain-of-function mutant. This filament has a longer pitch than that seen in crystals of Rad51's prokaryotic homolog RecA, and places the ATPase site directly at a new interface between protomers. Although the filament exhibits approximate six-fold symmetry, alternate protein-protein interfaces are slightly different, implying that the functional unit of Rad51 within the filament may be a dimer. Additionally, we show that mutation of His352, which lies at this new interface, markedly disrupts DNA binding.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adenosine Triphosphatases / chemistry
  • Adenosine Triphosphate / chemistry
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • DNA / chemistry
  • DNA / metabolism
  • DNA Damage
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / chemistry*
  • Histidine / chemistry
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Hydrolysis
  • Models, Molecular
  • Mutation
  • Phosphorylation
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Conformation
  • Rad51 Recombinase
  • Rec A Recombinases / chemistry*
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae / metabolism
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • Time Factors
  • Tyrosine / chemistry

Substances

  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • Tyrosine
  • Histidine
  • Adenosine Triphosphate
  • DNA
  • RAD51 protein, S cerevisiae
  • Rad51 Recombinase
  • Rec A Recombinases
  • Adenosine Triphosphatases

Associated data

  • PDB/1SZP