scholarly journals Hexameric helicase G40P unwinds DNA in single base pair steps

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schlierf ◽  
Ganggang Wang ◽  
Xiaojiang S. Chen ◽  
Taekjip Ha
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Base Pair ◽  
Atp Hydrolysis ◽  
Thermal Fluctuation ◽  
Dna Unwinding ◽  
Single Molecule Fluorescence ◽  
Step Size ◽  
Structural Investigations ◽  
Single Base ◽  
Single Base Pair

AbstractMost replicative helicases are hexameric, ring-shaped motor proteins that translocate on and unwind DNA. Despite extensive biochemical and structural investigations, how their translocation activity is utilized chemo-mechanically in DNA unwinding is poorly understood. We examined DNA unwinding by G40P, a DnaB-family helicase, using a single-molecule fluorescence assay with a single base pair resolution. The high-resolution assay revealed that G40P by itself is a very weak helicase that stalls at barriers as small as a single GC base pair and unwinds DNA with the step size of a single base pair. Single ATPγS binding could stall unwinding, demonstrating highly coordinated ATP hydrolysis between the six identical subunits. We observed frequent slippage of the helicase, which is fully suppressed by the primase DnaG. We anticipate that these findings allow a better understanding on the fine balance of thermal fluctuation activation and energy derived from hydrolysis.

scholarly journals Hexameric helicase G40P unwinds DNA in single base pair steps

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schlierf ◽  
Ganggang Wang ◽  
Xiaojiang S Chen ◽  
Taekjip Ha
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Base Pair ◽  
Atp Hydrolysis ◽  
Thermal Fluctuation ◽  
Dna Unwinding ◽  
Single Molecule Fluorescence ◽  
Step Size ◽  
Structural Investigations ◽  
Single Base ◽  
Single Base Pair

Most replicative helicases are hexameric, ring-shaped motor proteins that translocate on and unwind DNA. Despite extensive biochemical and structural investigations, how their translocation activity is utilized chemo-mechanically in DNA unwinding is poorly understood. We examined DNA unwinding by G40P, a DnaB-family helicase, using a single-molecule fluorescence assay with a single base pair resolution. The high-resolution assay revealed that G40P by itself is a very weak helicase that stalls at barriers as small as a single GC base pair and unwinds DNA with the step size of a single base pair. Binding of a single ATPγS could stall unwinding, demonstrating highly coordinated ATP hydrolysis between six identical subunits. We observed frequent slippage of the helicase, which is fully suppressed by the primase DnaG. We anticipate that these findings allow a better understanding on the fine balance of thermal fluctuation activation and energy derived from hydrolysis.

scholarly journals Kinetic and structural mechanism for DNA unwinding by a non-hexameric helicase

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean P. Carney ◽  
Wen Ma ◽  
Kevin D. Whitley ◽  
Haifeng Jia ◽  
Timothy M. Lohman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Tweezers ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Atp Hydrolysis ◽  
Variable Number ◽  
Structural Basis ◽  
Variable Step Size ◽  
Dna Unwinding ◽  
Step Size ◽  
Structural Mechanism ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

AbstractUvrD, a model for non-hexameric Superfamily 1 helicases, utilizes ATP hydrolysis to translocate stepwise along single-stranded DNA and unwind the duplex. Previous estimates of its step size have been indirect, and a consensus on its stepping mechanism is lacking. To dissect the mechanism underlying DNA unwinding, we use optical tweezers to measure directly the stepping behavior of UvrD as it processes a DNA hairpin and show that UvrD exhibits a variable step size averaging ~3 base pairs. Analyzing stepping kinetics across ATP reveals the type and number of catalytic events that occur with different step sizes. These single-molecule data reveal a mechanism in which UvrD moves one base pair at a time but sequesters the nascent single strands, releasing them non-uniformly after a variable number of catalytic cycles. Molecular dynamics simulations point to a structural basis for this behavior, identifying the protein-DNA interactions responsible for strand sequestration. Based on structural and sequence alignment data, we propose that this stepping mechanism may be conserved among other non-hexameric helicases.

scholarly journals Overcoming chromatin barriers

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Babette E de Jong ◽  
John van Noort
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Base Pair ◽  
Single Base ◽  
Single Base Pair

Single-molecule experiments reveal the dynamics of transcription through a nucleosome with single-base-pair accuracy.

scholarly journals Sequence-dependent base pair stepping dynamics in XPD helicase unwinding

eLife ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi Qi ◽  
Robert A Pugh ◽  
Maria Spies ◽  
Yann R Chemla
Keyword(s):  
Optical Tweezers ◽  
Base Pair ◽  
Transcription Initiation ◽  
Atp Hydrolysis ◽  
Physicochemical Process ◽  
Dna Helicase ◽  
Sequence Dependence ◽  
Single Base ◽  
Single Base Pair ◽  
Xpd Helicase

Helicases couple the chemical energy of ATP hydrolysis to directional translocation along nucleic acids and transient duplex separation. Understanding helicase mechanism requires that the basic physicochemical process of base pair separation be understood. This necessitates monitoring helicase activity directly, at high spatio-temporal resolution. Using optical tweezers with single base pair (bp) resolution, we analyzed DNA unwinding by XPD helicase, a Superfamily 2 (SF2) DNA helicase involved in DNA repair and transcription initiation. We show that monomeric XPD unwinds duplex DNA in 1-bp steps, yet exhibits frequent backsteps and undergoes conformational transitions manifested in 5-bp backward and forward steps. Quantifying the sequence dependence of XPD stepping dynamics with near base pair resolution, we provide the strongest and most direct evidence thus far that forward, single-base pair stepping of a helicase utilizes the spontaneous opening of the duplex. The proposed unwinding mechanism may be a universal feature of DNA helicases that move along DNA phosphodiester backbones.

scholarly journals Kinetic and structural mechanism for DNA unwinding by a non-hexameric helicase

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean P. Carney ◽  
Wen Ma ◽  
Kevin D. Whitley ◽  
Haifeng Jia ◽  
Timothy M. Lohman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Tweezers ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Atp Hydrolysis ◽  
Variable Number ◽  
Structural Basis ◽  
Variable Step Size ◽  
Dna Unwinding ◽  
Step Size ◽  
Structural Mechanism ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

AbstractUvrD, a model for non-hexameric Superfamily 1 helicases, utilizes ATP hydrolysis to translocate stepwise along single-stranded DNA and unwind the duplex. To dissect the mechanism underlying DNA unwinding, we use optical tweezers to measure directly the stepping behavior of UvrD as it processes a DNA hairpin and show that UvrD exhibits a variable step size averaging ~3 base pairs. Analyzing stepping kinetics across ATP reveals the type and number of catalytic events that occur with different step sizes. These single-molecule data reveal a mechanism in which UvrD moves one base pair at a time but sequesters the nascent single strands, releasing them non-uniformly after a variable number of catalytic cycles. Molecular dynamics simulations point to a structural basis for this behavior, identifying the protein-DNA interactions responsible for strand sequestration. Based on structural and sequence alignment data, we propose that this stepping mechanism may be conserved among other non-hexameric helicases.

scholarly journals Single–motor mechanics and models of the myosin motor

2000 ◽  
Vol 355 (1396) ◽  
pp. 441-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Yanagida ◽  
S. Esaki ◽  
A. Hikikoshi Iwane ◽  
Y. Inoue ◽  
A. Ishijima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Atp Hydrolysis ◽  
Accurate Determination ◽  
Step Size ◽  
Single Molecule Level ◽  
Detection Techniques ◽  
Myosin Motor ◽  
Mechanochemical Coupling ◽  
Chemical Events

Recent progress in single–molecule detection techniques is remarkable. These techniques have allowed the accurate determination of myosin–head–induced displacements and how mechanical cycles are coupled to ATP hydrolysis, by measuring individual mechanical events and chemical events of actomyosin directly at the single–molecule level. Here we review our recent work in which we have made detailed measurements of myosin step size and mechanochemical coupling, and propose a model of the myosin motor.

scholarly journals Overexpression of the MtrC-MtrD-MtrE Efflux Pump Due to an mtrR Mutation Is Required for Chromosomally Mediated Penicillin Resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

2002 ◽  
Vol 184 (20) ◽  
pp. 5619-5624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy L. Veal ◽  
Robert A. Nicholas ◽  
William M. Shafer
Keyword(s):  
Neisseria Gonorrhoeae ◽  
Base Pair ◽  
Efflux Pump ◽  
Penicillin Resistance ◽  
Single Base ◽  
Base Pair Deletion ◽  
Resistance To Penicillin ◽  
Single Base Pair ◽  
High Level ◽  
Level Resistance

ABSTRACT The importance of the mtrCDE-encoded efflux pump in conferring chromosomally mediated penicillin resistance on certain strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae was determined by using genetic derivatives of penicillin-sensitive strain FA19 bearing defined mutations (mtrR, penA, and penB) donated by a clinical isolate (FA6140) expressing high-level resistance to penicillin and antimicrobial hydrophobic agents (HAs). When introduced into strain FA19 by transformation, a single base pair deletion in the mtrR promoter sequence from strain FA6140 was sufficient to provide high-level resistance to HAs (e.g., erythromycin and Triton X-100) but only a twofold increase in resistance to penicillin. When subsequent mutations in penA and porIB were introduced from strain FA6140 into strain WV30 (FA19 mtrR) by transformation, resistance to penicillin increased incrementally up to a MIC of 1.0 μg/ml. Insertional inactivation of the gene (mtrD) encoding the membrane transporter component of the Mtr efflux pump in these transformant strains and in strain FA6140 decreased the MIC of penicillin by 16-fold. Genetic analyses revealed that mtrR mutations, such as the single base pair deletion in its promoter, are needed for phenotypic expression of penicillin and tetracycline resistance afforded by the penB mutation. As penB represents amino acid substitutions within the third loop of the outer membrane PorIB protein that modulate entry of penicillin and tetracycline, the results presented herein suggest that PorIB and the MtrC-MtrD-MtrE efflux pump act synergistically to confer resistance to these antibiotics.

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