Mechanism for nucleic acid chaperone activity of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein revealed by single molecule stretching

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Mark C WilliamsV A Bloomfield

Abstract

The nucleocapsid protein (NC) of HIV type 1 is a nucleic acid chaperone that facilitates the rearrangement of nucleic acids into conformations containing the maximum number of complementary base pairs. We use an optical tweezers instrument to stretch single DNA molecules from the helix to coil state at room temperature in the presence of NC and a mutant form (SSHS NC) that lacks the two zinc finger structures present in NC. Although both NC and SSHS NC facilitate annealing of complementary strands through electrostatic attraction, only NC destabilizes the helical form of DNA and reduces the cooperativity of the helix-coil transition. In particular, we find that the helix-coil transition free energy at room temperature is significantly reduced in the presence of NC. Thus, upon NC binding, it is likely that thermodynamic fluctuations cause continuous melting and reannealing of base pairs so that DNA strands are able to rapidly sample configurations to find the lowest energy state. The reduced cooperativity allows these fluctuations to occur in the middle of complex double-stranded structures. The reduced stability and cooperativity, coupled with the electrostatic attraction generated by the high charge density of NC, is responsib...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jan 31, 2004·Analytical Biochemistry·Aiguo WuErkang Wang
Mar 14, 2003·Journal of Molecular Biology·Kiran PantMark C Williams
Jul 20, 2002·Current Opinion in Structural Biology·Mark C Williams, Ioulia Rouzina
Jun 5, 2008·The Journal of Biological Chemistry·Jeremy D BartosRobert A Bambara
Aug 9, 2003·Nucleic Acids Research·Nick LeeKarin Musier-Forsyth
Sep 23, 2003·Nucleic Acids Research·Sébastien LyonnaisGilles Mirambeau
Aug 4, 2005·Nucleic Acids Research·Besik I KankiaKarin Musier-Forsyth
Jan 26, 2006·Nucleic Acids Research·Robert J FisherAlan Rein
Feb 2, 2006·Nucleic Acids Research·Margareta CruceanuMark C Williams
Jan 9, 2009·Nucleic Acids Research·Xi-Miao HouPeng-Ye Wang
May 31, 2011·Nucleic Acids Research·Katarzyna J PurzyckaRyszard W Adamiak
Apr 3, 2008·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Hu Zhang, Kuo-Kang Liu
Aug 8, 2008·Journal of Virology·Kristen M Stewart-MaynardKarin Musier-Forsyth
Aug 1, 2006·Journal of Biomedicine & Biotechnology·Sandra L Martin
Mar 6, 2009·Retrovirology·Marylène MougelJean-Luc Darlix
Jun 21, 2007·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Yining ZengPaul F Barbara
Jun 27, 2002·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Mark C WilliamsKarin Musier-Forsyth
Jul 25, 2012·Radiation and Environmental Biophysics·Christopher C PerryJamie R Milligan
Jun 26, 2012·Virus Research·Redmond P SmythJohnson Mak
Jul 19, 2011·Journal of Molecular Biology·Kun LuMichael F Summers
Jun 26, 2010·Physics of Life Reviews·Kathy R ChaurasiyaMark C Williams

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