Crystal structure of the Holliday junction migration motor protein RuvB from Thermus thermophilus HB8

K Yamada1, N Kunishima, K Mayanagi

  • 1Biomolecular Engineering Research Institute, 6-2-3 Furuedai, Suita, Osaka 565-0874, Japan.

We report here the crystal structure of the RuvB motor protein from Thermus thermophilus HB8, which drives branch migration of the Holliday junction during homologous recombination. RuvB has a crescent-like architecture consisting of three consecutive domains, the first two of which are involved in ATP binding and hydrolysis. DNA is likely to interact with a large basic cleft, which encompasses the ATP-binding pocket and domain boundaries, whereas the junction-recognition protein RuvA may bind a flexible beta-hairpin protruding from the N-terminal domain. The structures of two subunits, related by a noncrystallographic pseudo-2-fold axis, imply that conformational changes of motor protein coupled with ATP hydrolysis may reflect motility essential for its translocation around double-stranded DNA.

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