title: Structural characterization of human RPA sequential binding to single-stranded DNA using ssDNA as a molecular ruler.
abstract: Human replication protein A (RPA), a heterotrimer composed of RPA70, RPA32, and RPA14 subunits, contains four single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding domains (DBD): DBD-A, DBD-B, and DBD-C in RPA70 and DBD-D in RPA32. Although crystallographic or NMR structures of these DBDs and a trimerization core have been determined, the structure of the full length of RPA or the RPA-ssDNA complex remains unknown. In this article, we have examined the structural features of RPA interaction with ssDNA by fluorescence spectroscopy. Using a set of oligonucleotides (dT) with varying lengths as a molecular ruler and also as the substrate, we have determined at single-nucleotide resolution the relative positions of the ssDNA with interacting intrinsic tryptophans of RPA. Our results revealed that Trp528 in DBD-C and Trp107 in DBD-D contact ssDNA at the 16th and 24th nucleotides (nt) from the 5'-end of the substrate, respectively. Evaluation of the relative spatial arrangement of RPA domains in the RPA-ssDNA complex suggested that DBD-B and DBD-C are spaced by about 4 nt ( approximately 19 A) apart, whereas DBD-C and DBD-D are spaced by about 7 nt ( approximately 34 A). On the basis of these geometric constraints, a global structure model for the binding of the major RPA DBDs to ssDNA was proposed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee 37614, USA.
authors.forename: Lifeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roginskaya
authors.forename: Youxing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Zhengguan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009154:Mutation; D011485:Protein Binding; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D051716:Replication Protein A / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; C497167:RPA1 protein, human; D051716:Replication Protein A; C516794:RPA2 protein, human