title: Crystal structure of the DNA repair enzyme ultraviolet damage endonuclease.
abstract: The ultraviolet damage endonuclease (UVDE) performs the initial step in an alternative excision repair pathway of UV-induced DNA damage, nicking immediately adjacent to the 5' phosphate of the damaged nucleotides. Unique for a single-protein DNA repair endonuclease, it can detect different types of damage. Here we show that Thermus thermophilus UVDE shares some essential structural features with Endo IV, an enzyme from the base excision repair pathway that exclusively nicks at abasic sites. A comparison between the structures indicates how DNA is bound by UVDE, how UVDE may recognize damage, and which of its residues are involved in catalysis. Furthermore, the comparison suggests an elegant explanation of UVDE's potential to recognize different types of damage. Incision assays including point mutants of UVDE confirmed the relevance of these conclusions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Keti
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Paspaleva
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thomassen
authors.forename: Navraj S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Pannu
authors.forename: Shigenori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwai
authors.forename: Geri F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Moolenaar
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Goosen
authors.forename: Jan Pieter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Abrahams
mesh_terms: D020137:Base Pair Mismatch; D001665:Binding Sites; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004247:DNA; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000502:physiology*; D045643:DNA Repair Enzymes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D043223:Deoxyribonuclease IV (Phage T4-Induced) / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D004720:Endonucleases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D016963:Thermus thermophilus / Q000201:enzymology; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D004720:Endonucleases; D043223:Deoxyribonuclease IV (Phage T4-Induced); D045643:DNA Repair Enzymes