title: Structure and biochemical characterization of proliferating cellular nuclear antigen from a parasitic protozoon.
abstract: Proliferating cellular nuclear antigen (PCNA) is a toroidal-shaped protein that is involved in cell-cycle control, DNA replication and DNA repair. Parasitic protozoa are early-diverged eukaryotes that are responsible for neglected diseases. In this work, a PCNA from a parasitic protozoon was identified, cloned and biochemically characterized and its crystal structure was determined. Structural and biochemical studies demonstrate that PCNA from Entamoeba histolytica assembles as a homotrimer that is able to interact with and stimulate the activity of a PCNA-interacting peptide-motif protein from E. histolytica, EhDNAligI. The data indicate a conservation of the biochemical mechanisms of PCNA-mediated interactions between metazoa, yeast and parasitic protozoa.
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Bioquímica Estructural, Laboratorio Nacional de Genomica para la Biodiversidad, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Km 9.6 Libramiento Norte, Carretera Irapuato-León, 36821 Irapuato, Guanajuato, México.
authors.forename: Cesar S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Cardona-Felix
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lara-Gonzalez
authors.forename: Luis G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Brieba
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D004748:Entamoeba histolytica / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D040681:Structural Homology, Protein
chemical_list: D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen