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Crystal structure of a DExx box DNA helicase

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Abstract

THERE are a wide variety of helicases that unwind helical DNA1 and RNA substrates2. The twelve helicases that have been identified in Escherichia coli1 play a role in almost all cellular processes involving nucleic acids. We have solved the crystal structure of a monomeric form of a DNA helicase from Bacillus stearothermo-philus, alone and in a complex with ADP, at 2.5 and 2.9 Å resolution, respectively. The enzyme comprises two domains with a deep cleft running between them. The ATP-binding site, which is situated at the bottom of this cleft, is formed by motifs that are conserved across the superfamily of related helicases. Unexpected structural homo logy with the DNA recombination protein, RecA, suggests how ATP binding and hydrolysis may drive conformational changes of the enzyme during catalysis, and implies that there is a common mechanism for all helicases.

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Author notes

  1. James A. Brannigan: Department of Chemistry, University of York, Heslington, YorkYOl 5DD, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Rex Richards Building, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, 0X1 3QU, UK

    Hosahalli S. Subramanya, Louise E. Bird, James A. Brannigan & Dale B. Wigley

Authors
  1. Hosahalli S. Subramanya
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  2. Louise E. Bird
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  3. James A. Brannigan
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  4. Dale B. Wigley
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Subramanya, H., Bird, L., Brannigan, J. et al. Crystal structure of a DExx box DNA helicase. Nature 384, 379–383 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/384379a0

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