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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Tools to Study the Role of Architectural Protein HMGB1 in the Processing of Helix Distorting, Site-specific DNA Interstrand Crosslinks
Published on: November 10, 2016
In vivo acetylation of HMG1 protein enhances its binding affinity to distorted DNA structures
I Ugrinova1, E A Pasheva, J Armengaud
1Institute of Molecular Biology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria, and Institut de Biologie Structurale, Grenoble, France.
Abstract:
The postsynthetic acetylation of HMG1 protein has been known for more than 20 years, but the effect of this modification on the properties of the protein has not been studied so far. Acetylated HMG1 was isolated from cells grown in the presence of sodium n-butyrate and identified as a monoacetylated protein, modified at lysine 2. Acetylated and parental forms of HMG1 were compared relative to their binding affinity to distorted DNA structures. By using mobility shift assay to determine the dissociation constants, we show that acetylation enhanced the ability of HMG1 to recognize UV light- or cisplatin-damaged DNA and four-way junctions. Since the modified lysine lies adjacent to the HMG1 DNA-binding domain, the results obtained were attributed to acetylation-induced conformational change in HMG1. The potential role of acetylation in modulating the interactions of HMG1 with both damaged DNA and other proteins is discussed.
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