title: The DNA (cytosine-5) methyltransferases.
abstract: The m5C-MTases form a closely-knit family of enzymes in which common amino acid sequence motifs almost certainly translate into common structural and functional elements. These common elements are located predominantly in a single structural domain that performs the chemistry of the reaction. Sequence-specific DNA recognition is accomplished by a separate domain that contains recognition elements not seen in other structures. This, combined with the novel and unexpected mechanistic feature of trapping a base out of the DNA helix, makes the m5C-MTases an intriguing class of enzymes for further study. The reaction pathway has suddenly become more complicated because of the base-flipping and much remains to be learned about the DNA recognition elements in the family members for which structural information is not yet available.
authors.affiliation: New England Biolabs, Beverly, MA 01915.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klimasauskas
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Posfai
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D015257:DNA-Cytosine Methylases / Q000737:chemistry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012436:S-Adenosylmethionine / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D012436:S-Adenosylmethionine; D015257:DNA-Cytosine Methylases