title: Binding of p53 and its core domain to supercoiled DNA.
abstract: We have compared the binding of human full-length p53 protein (p53; expressed in bacteria and insects) and its isolated core domain (p53CD, amino acids 94-312; expressed in bacteria) to negatively supercoiled (sc) DNA using gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting. Significant differences were observed; p53CD produced a relatively small and continuous retardation of scDNA, in contrast to the ladder of distinct bands formed by p53 in agarose gels. The ladder produced by full-length protein expressed in bacteria (p53b) was similar to that observed earlier with protein expressed in insect cells (p53i). Competition between scDNAs and their linearized (lin) forms showed a preference for scDNAs by both p53 and p53CD, but the ratios characterizing the distribution of the protein between sc and lin pBluescript DNAs were substantially higher for p53 (sc/lin > 60 in p53b) than for p53CD (sc/lin approximately 4). Strong binding of p53 to scDNA lacking the p53 consensus sequence may represent a new p53-binding mode, which we tentatively denote supercoil-selective (SCS) binding. This binding requires both the C-terminal domain and the core domain. Targets of this binding may include: (a) DNA segments defined both by the nucleotide sequence and local topology, and/or (b) strand crossings and/or bending. The binding preference of p53CD for scDNA may be due to the known nonspecific binding to internal single-stranded regions in scDNA (absent in relaxed DNA molecules) and/or to SCS binding albeit with reduced affinity due to the absence of contributions from other p53 domains.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic. palecek@ibp.cz
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Palecek
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brázdová
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brázda
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Palecek
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Billová
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Subramaniam
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Jovin
mesh_terms: D016367:Baculoviridae / Q000378:metabolism; D001665:Binding Sites; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D004278:DNA, Superhelical / Q000378:metabolism*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D006358:Hot Temperature; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010957:Plasmids / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004278:DNA, Superhelical; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D004247:DNA