title: Insight into the cooperative DNA binding of the O⁶-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase.
abstract: The O(6)-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (AGT) is a highly conserved protein responsible for direct repair of alkylated guanine and to a lesser degree thymine bases. While specific DNA lesion-bound complexes in crystal structures consist of monomeric AGT, several solution studies have suggested that cooperative DNA binding plays a role in the physiological activities of AGT. Cooperative AGT-DNA complexes have been described by theoretical models, which can be tested by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Direct access to structural features of AGT-DNA complexes at the single molecule level by AFM imaging revealed non-specifically bound, cooperative complexes with limited cluster length. Implications of cooperative binding in AGT-DNA interactions are discussed.
authors.affiliation: University of Wuerzburg, Rudolf Virchow Center for Experimental Biomedicine, 97080 Wuerzburg, Germany. Electronic address: Ingrid.Tessmer@virchow.uni-wuerzburg.de.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tessmer
authors.affiliation: Center for Structural Biology, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA. Electronic address: Michael.Fried@uky.edu.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Fried
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004260:DNA Repair; D006801:Humans; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D062105:Molecular Docking Simulation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019853:O(6)-Methylguanine-DNA Methyltransferase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D019853:O(6)-Methylguanine-DNA Methyltransferase
keywords: Atomic force microscopy (AFM); Cooperative protein–DNA interactions; DNA repair; O(6)-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (AGT); Single molecule imaging