Interactions of human replication protein A with oligonucleotides

Equilibrium binding studies of recombinant anti-single-stranded DNA Fab. Role of heavy chain complementarity-determining regions

We previously isolated nucleic acid-binding antibody fragments (Fab) from bacteriophage display libraries representing the immunoglobulin repertoire of automimune mice to expedite the analysis of antibody-DNA recognition. In the present study, the binding properties of one such anti-DNA Fab, high affinity single-stranded (ss) DNA-binding Fab (DNA-1), were defined using equilibrium gel filtration and fluorescence titration. Results demonstrated that DNA-1 had a marked preference for oligo(dT) (100 nM dissociation constant) and required oligo(dT) >5 nucleotides in length. A detailed analysis of the involvement of the individual heavy chain (H) complementarity-determining regions (CDR) ensued using previously constructed HCDR transplantation mutants between DNA-1 and low affinity ssDNA-binding Fab (D5), a Fab that binds poorly to DNA (Calcutt, M. J. Komissarov, A. A., Marchbank, M. T., and Deutscher, S. L. (1996) Gene (Amst.) 168, 9-14). Circular dichroism studies indicated that the wild type and mutant Fab studied were of similar overall secondary structure and may contain similar combining site shapes. The conversion of D5 to a high affinity oligo(dT)-binding Fab occurred only in the presence of DNA-1 HCDR3. Results with site-specific mutants in HCDR1 further suggested a role of residue 33 in interaction with nucleic acid. The results of these studies are compared with previously published data on DNA-antibody recognition.

An affinity of human replication protein A for ultraviolet-damaged DNA

Replication protein A (RPA), a heterotrimeric protein of 70-, 32-, and 14-kDa subunits, is an essential factor for DNA replication. Biochemical studies with human and yeast RPA have indicated that it is a DNA-binding protein that has higher affinity for single-stranded DNA. Interestingly, in vitro nucleotide excision repair studies with purified protein components have shown an absolute requirement for RPA in the incision of UV-damaged DNA. Here we use a mobility shift assay to demonstrate that human RPA binds a UV damaged duplex DNA fragment preferentially. Complex formation between RPA and the UV-irradiated DNA is not affected by prior enzymatic photo-reactivation of the DNA, suggesting an affinity of RPA for the (6-4) photoproduct. We also show that Mg2+ in the millimolar range is required for preferential binding of RPA to damaged DNA. These findings identify a novel property of RPA and implicate RPA in damage recognition during the incision of UV-damaged DNA.

Replication protein A confers structure-specific endonuclease activities to the XPF-ERCC1 and XPG subunits of human DNA repair excision nuclease

XPF-ERCC1 and XPG proteins are nucleases that are involved in human nucleotide excision repair. In this study, we characterized the structure-specific junction-cutting activities of both nucleases using DNA substrates containing a bubble or loop structure. We found that the junction-cutting activities of XPF-ERCC1 and XPG were greatly stimulated by human replication protein A (RPA), while heterologous single-stranded DNA-binding proteins could not substitute for human RPA. To test for specific interaction between RPA and XPF-ERCC1 as is known to occur between RPA and XPG, we employed a pull-down assay with immobilized "bubble" substrate. We found that the binding of XPF-ERCC1 complex to the bubble substrate was enhanced by RPA, suggesting a possible mechanism for RPA in the excision nuclease system, that is the targeting of the nuclease subunits to their specific sites of action. Furthermore, the RPA-promoted junction cutting by XPF-ERCC1 and XPG nucleases was observed with "loop" substrates as well, raising the possibility that XPF-ERCC1, XPG, and RPA may function in removing loop structures from DNA, independent of the other subunits of the human excinuclease.

Reaction mechanism of human DNA repair excision nuclease

Nucleotide excision repair consists of removal of the damaged nucleotide(s) from DNA by dual incision of the damaged strand on both sides of the lesion, followed by filling of the resulting gap and ligation. In humans, 14-16 polypeptides are required for the dual incision step. We have purified the required proteins to homogeneity and reconstituted the dual incision activity (excision nuclease) in a defined enzyme/substrate system. The system was highly efficient, removing >30% of the thymine dimers under optimal conditions. All of the six fractions that constitute the excision nuclease were required for dual incision of the thymine dimer substrate. However, when a cholesterol-substituted oligonucleotide was used as substrate, excision occurred in the absence of the XPC-HHR23B complex, reminiscent of transcription-coupled repair in the XP-C mutant cell line. Replication protein A is absolutely required for both incisions. The XPG subunit is essential to the formation of the preincision complex, but the repair complex can assemble and produce normal levels of 3'-incision in the absence of XPF-ERCC1. Kinetic experiments revealed that the 3'-incision precedes the 5'-incision. Consistent with the kinetic data, uncoupled 5'-incision was never observed in the reconstituted system. Two forms of TFIIH were used in the reconstitution reaction, one containing the CDK7-cyclin H pair and one lacking it. Both forms were equally active in excision. The excised oligomer dissociated from the gapped DNA in a nucleoprotein complex. In total, these results provide a detailed account of the reactions occurring during damage removal by human excision nuclease.

Structural analysis of human replication protein A. Mapping functional domains of the 70-kDa subunit

Replication protein A (RPA) is a heterotrimeric single-stranded DNA-binding protein that is essential for DNA metabolism. Human RPA is composed of subunits of 70, 32, and 14 kDa with intrinsic DNA-binding activity localized to the 616-amino acid, 70-kDa subunit (RPA70). We have made a series of C-terminal deletions to map the functional domains of RPA70. Deletion of the C terminus resulted in polypeptides that were significantly more soluble than RPA70 but were unable to form stable complexes with the other two subunits of RPA. These data suggest that the C-terminal region of RPA70 may be important for complex formation. The DNA-binding domain was localized to a region of RPA70 between residues 1 and 441. A mutant containing residues 1-441 bound oligonucleotides with an intrinsic affinity close to wild-type RPA complex. This mutant also appeared to bind with reduced cooperativity. We conclude that the C terminus of RPA70 and the 32- and 14-kDa subunits are not involved directly with interactions with DNA but may have a role in cooperativity of RPA binding. RPA70 deletion mutants were not able to support DNA replication even in the presence of a complex of the 32- and 14-kDa subunits, suggesting that the heterotrimeric complex is essential for DNA replication. The putative zinc finger in the C terminus of RPA70 is not required for single-stranded DNA-binding activity.