The crystal structure of the complex of replication protein A subunits RPA32 and RPA14 reveals a mechanism for single-stranded DNA binding

EMBO J. 1999 Aug 16;18(16):4498-504. doi: 10.1093/emboj/18.16.4498.

Abstract

Replication protein A (RPA), the eukaryote single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB), is a heterotrimer. The largest subunit, RPA70, which harbours the major DNA-binding activity, has two DNA-binding domains that each adopt an OB-fold. The complex of the two smaller subunits, RPA32 and RPA14, has weak DNA-binding activity but the mechanism of DNA binding is unknown. We have determined the crystal structure of the proteolytic core of RPA32 and RPA14, which consists of the central two-thirds of RPA32 and the entire RPA14 subunit. The structure revealed that RPA14 and the central part of RPA32 are structural homologues. Each subunit contains a central OB-fold domain, which also resembles the DNA-binding domains in RPA70; an N-terminal extension that interacts with the central OB-fold domain; and a C-terminal helix that mediate heterodimerization via a helix-helix interaction. The OB-fold of RPA32, but not RPA14, possesses additional similarity to the RPA70 DNA-binding domains, supporting a DNA-binding role for RPA32. The discovery of a third and fourth OB-fold in RPA suggests that the quaternary structure of SSBs, which in Bacteria and Archaea are also tetramers of OB-folds, is conserved in evolution. The structure also suggests a mechanism for RPA trimer formation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • DNA, Single-Stranded / metabolism*
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / chemistry*
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Dimerization
  • Humans
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Protein Conformation*
  • Proteins / chemistry
  • Proteins / metabolism
  • RNA Polymerase I
  • Replication Protein A
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins*

Substances

  • DNA, Single-Stranded
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Proteins
  • RPA1 protein, human
  • RPA14 protein, S cerevisiae
  • Replication Protein A
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • RNA Polymerase I