title: Structure of a double hexamer of the Pyrococcus furiosus minichromosome maintenance protein N-terminal domain.
abstract: The crystal structure of the N-terminal domain of the Pyrococcus furiosus minichromosome maintenance (MCM) protein as a double hexamer is described. The MCM complex is a ring-shaped helicase that unwinds DNA at the replication fork of eukaryotes and archaea. Prior to replication initiation, the MCM complex assembles as an inactive double hexamer at specific sites of DNA. The presented structure is highly consistent with previous MCM double-hexamer structures and shows two MCM hexamers with a head-to-head interaction mediated by the N-terminal domain. Minor differences include a diminished head-to-head interaction and a slightly reduced inter-hexamer rotation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meagher
authors.affiliation: Department of Structural Biology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Enemark
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019843:Archaeal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001665:Binding Sites; D002413:Cations, Divalent; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004261:DNA Replication; D019641:DNA, Archaeal / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression; D007700:Kinetics; D064110:Minichromosome Maintenance Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010957:Plasmids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D000072756:Protein Conformation, alpha-Helical; D000072757:Protein Conformation, beta-Strand; D054730:Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D020027:Pyrococcus furiosus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D015032:Zinc / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019843:Archaeal Proteins; D002413:Cations, Divalent; D019641:DNA, Archaeal; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D064110:Minichromosome Maintenance Proteins; D015032:Zinc
keywords: DNA replication; MCM; Pyrococcus furiosus; helicase; minichromosome maintenance