scholarly journals Archaeal MCM Proteins as an Analog for the Eukaryotic Mcm2–7 Helicase to Reveal Essential Features of Structure and Function

Archaea ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin M. Miller ◽  
Eric J. Enemark
Keyword(s):  
Replication Fork ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Replicative Helicase ◽  
The Core ◽  
Mcm Helicase ◽  
Mcm Proteins ◽  
And Function ◽  
Related Proteins

In eukaryotes, the replicative helicase is the large multisubunit CMG complex consisting of the Mcm2–7 hexameric ring, Cdc45, and the tetrameric GINS complex. The Mcm2–7 ring assembles from six different, related proteins and forms the core of this complex. In archaea, a homologous MCM hexameric ring functions as the replicative helicase at the replication fork. Archaeal MCM proteins form thermostable homohexamers, facilitating their use as models of the eukaryotic Mcm2–7 helicase. Here we review archaeal MCM helicase structure and function and how the archaeal findings relate to the eukaryotic Mcm2–7 ring.

Structure and function of the GINS complex, a key component of the eukaryotic replisome

2010 ◽  
Vol 425 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart A. MacNeill
Keyword(s):  
Replication Fork ◽  
Biochemical Analysis ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Chromosomal Dna ◽  
Minichromosome Maintenance ◽  
Replication Process ◽  
Replicative Helicase ◽  
Cellular Life ◽  
Mcm Helicase ◽  
And Function

High-fidelity chromosomal DNA replication is fundamental to all forms of cellular life and requires the complex interplay of a wide variety of essential and non-essential protein factors in a spatially and temporally co-ordinated manner. In eukaryotes, the GINS complex (from the Japanese go-ichi-ni-san meaning 5-1-2-3, after the four related subunits of the complex Sld5, Psf1, Psf2 and Psf3) was recently identified as a novel factor essential for both the initiation and elongation stages of the replication process. Biochemical analysis has placed GINS at the heart of the eukaryotic replication apparatus as a component of the CMG [Cdc45–MCM (minichromosome maintenance) helicase–GINS] complex that most likely serves as the replicative helicase, unwinding duplex DNA ahead of the moving replication fork. GINS homologues are found in the archaea and have been shown to interact directly with the MCM helicase and with primase, suggesting a central role for the complex in archaeal chromosome replication also. The present review summarizes current knowledge of the structure, function and evolution of the GINS complex in eukaryotes and archaea, discusses possible functions of the GINS complex and highlights recent results that point to possible regulation of GINS function in response to DNA damage.

scholarly journals Conserved Structure and Function in the Granulysin and NK-Lysin Peptide Family

2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (10) ◽  
pp. 6332-6339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte M. A. Linde ◽  
Susanna Grundström ◽  
Erik Nordling ◽  
Essam Refai ◽  
Patrick J. Brennan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mycobacterium Smegmatis ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Antimycobacterial Activity ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Loop Structure ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Short Loop ◽  
Peptide Family ◽  
And Function ◽  
Related Proteins

ABSTRACT Granulysin and NK-lysin are homologous bactericidal proteins with a moderate residue identity (35%), both of which have antimycobacterial activity. Short loop peptides derived from the antimycobacterial domains of granulysin, NK-lysin, and a putative chicken NK-lysin were examined and shown to have comparable antimycobacterial but variable Escherichia coli activities. The known structure of the NK-lysin loop peptide was used to predict the structure of the equivalent peptides of granulysin and chicken NK-lysin by homology modeling. The last two adopted a secondary structure almost identical to that of NK-lysin. All three peptides form very similar three-dimensional (3-D) architectures in which the important basic residues assume the same positions in space. The basic residues in granulysin are arginine, while those in NK-lysin and chicken NK-lysin are a mixture of arginine and lysine. We altered the ratio of arginine to lysine in the granulysin fragment to examine the importance of basic residues for antimycobacterial activity. The alteration of the amino acids reduced the activity against E. coli to a larger extent than that against Mycobacterium smegmatis. In granulysin, the arginines in the loop structure are not crucial for antimycobacterial activity but are important for cytotoxicity. We suggest that the antibacterial domains of the related proteins granulysin, NK-lysin, and chicken NK-lysin have conserved their 3-D structure and their function against mycobacteria.

scholarly journals Frontispiece: Structure and Function of Human Tyrosinase and Tyrosinase-Related Proteins

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuelei Lai ◽  
Harry J. Wichers ◽  
Montserrat Soler-Lopez ◽  
Bauke W. Dijkstra
Keyword(s):  
Structure And Function ◽  
And Function ◽  
Related Proteins ◽  
Human Tyrosinase

scholarly journals Structure and Function of Human Tyrosinase and Tyrosinase-Related Proteins

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuelei Lai ◽  
Harry J. Wichers ◽  
Montserrat Soler-Lopez ◽  
Bauke W. Dijkstra
Keyword(s):  
Structure And Function ◽  
And Function ◽  
Related Proteins ◽  
Human Tyrosinase

scholarly journals DNA Polymerases at the Eukaryotic Replication Fork Thirty Years after: Connection to Cancer

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 3489
Author(s):  
Youri I. Pavlov ◽  
Anna S. Zhuk ◽  
Elena I. Stepchenkova
Keyword(s):  
Replication Fork ◽  
Genome Instability ◽  
Dna Polymerases ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Dna Strands ◽  
Leading Strand ◽  
And Function

Recent studies on tumor genomes revealed that mutations in genes of replicative DNA polymerases cause a predisposition for cancer by increasing genome instability. The past 10 years have uncovered exciting details about the structure and function of replicative DNA polymerases and the replication fork organization. The principal idea of participation of different polymerases in specific transactions at the fork proposed by Morrison and coauthors 30 years ago and later named “division of labor,” remains standing, with an amendment of the broader role of polymerase δ in the replication of both the lagging and leading DNA strands. However, cancer-associated mutations predominantly affect the catalytic subunit of polymerase ε that participates in leading strand DNA synthesis. We analyze how new findings in the DNA replication field help elucidate the polymerase variants’ effects on cancer.

The haloarchaeal chromosome replication machinery

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart A. MacNeill
Keyword(s):  
Dna Replication ◽  
Replication Fork ◽  
Biochemical Analysis ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Haloferax Volcanii ◽  
Eukaryotic Cells ◽  
Replication Machinery ◽  
Chromosomal Dna ◽  
Biochemical Studies ◽  
And Function

The powerful combination of genetic and biochemical analysis has provided many key insights into the structure and function of the chromosomal DNA replication machineries of bacterial and eukaryotic cells. In contrast, in the archaea, biochemical studies have dominated, mainly due to the absence of efficient genetic systems for these organisms. This situation is changing, however, and, in this regard, the genetically tractable haloarchaea Haloferax volcanii and Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 are emerging as key models. In the present review, I give an overview of the components of the replication machinery in the haloarchaea, with particular emphasis on the protein factors presumed to travel with the replication fork.

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