Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026
08:15
Self-Assembly of Gamma-Modified Peptide Nucleic Acids into Complex Nanostructures in Organic Solvent Mixtures
Published on: June 26, 2020
Pso2 (SNM1) is a DNA structure-specific endonuclease
Tracy Tiefenbach1, Murray Junop
1Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada.
Nucleic Acids Research
|November 22, 2011
Summary
Pso2 is a DNA hairpin opening nuclease in budding yeast. This enzyme is crucial for repairing chromosomal breaks with closed hairpin ends, suggesting a role beyond interstrand crosslink repair.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
- Biochemistry
Background:
- DNA damage, repair, and recombination involve specialized nucleases.
- DNA hairpins are critical structures formed during various DNA processes like V(D)J recombination and double-strand breaks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nuclease activity of Pso2 in budding yeast.
- To determine the role of Pso2 in DNA repair pathways.
Main Methods:
- Biochemical characterization of Pso2 nuclease activity on various DNA substrates.
- Genetic analysis of Pso2 function in vivo for chromosomal break repair.
Main Results:
- Pso2 functions as an efficient, structure-specific DNA hairpin opening endonuclease.
- This hairpin opening activity is essential in vivo for repairing chromosomal breaks with closed hairpin ends.
Conclusions:
- Pso2 possesses a novel DNA hairpin opening endonuclease activity.
- Pso2's function extends beyond interstrand crosslink repair, potentially involving the processing of DNA hairpins during repair.
- This discovery broadens the understanding of Pso2's role in DNA maintenance.
Related Concept Videos
01:03Single-Strand DNA Binding Proteins
For successful DNA replication, the unwinding of double-stranded DNA must be accompanied by stabilization and protection of the separated single strands of the DNA. This crucial task is performed by single-strand DNA-binding (SSB) proteins. They bind to the DNA in a sequence-independent manner, which means that the nitrogenous bases of the DNA need not be present in a specific order for binding of SSB proteins to it. The binding of SSB proteins straightens single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and makes...
01:32RNA Splicing
Splicing is the process by which eukaryotic RNA is edited before its translation into protein. The RNA strand transcribed from eukaryotic DNA is called the primary transcript. The primary transcripts that become mRNAs are called precursor messenger RNAs (pre-mRNAs). Eukaryotic pre-mRNA contains alternating sequences of exons and introns. Exons are nucleotide sequences that code for proteins, whereas introns are the non-coding regions. In RNA splicing, introns are removed and exons are bonded...
01:32RNA Splicing
Splicing is the process by which eukaryotic RNA is edited before its translation into protein. The RNA strand transcribed from eukaryotic DNA is called the primary transcript. The primary transcripts that become mRNAs are called precursor messenger RNAs (pre-mRNAs). Eukaryotic pre-mRNA contains alternating sequences of exons and introns. Exons are nucleotide sequences that code for proteins, whereas introns are the non-coding regions. In RNA splicing, introns are removed and exons are bonded...
02:02DNA Topoisomerases
Topoisomerases are enzymes that relax overwound DNA molecules during various cell processes, including DNA replication and transcription. These enzymes regulate positive and negative DNA supercoiling without changing the nucleotide sequence. DNA overwinding in a clockwise direction results in positively supercoiled DNA, whereas underwinding in a counterclockwise direction produces negatively supercoiled DNA.
Types and Mechanism of action
Topoisomerases are divided into two main types. Type I...
Types and Mechanism of action
Topoisomerases are divided into two main types. Type I...
01:11Restriction Enzymes
Restriction enzymes are bacterial enzymes used to cut DNA in a sequence-specific manner. To cleave DNA, they bind to specific palindromic sequences called restriction sites. Such palindromic DNA sequences or inverted repeats are commonly found in regions of functional significance, such as the origin of replication, gene operator sites, and regions containing transcription termination signals.
The host bacteria protect their own genomic DNA from these enzymes by methylating these sites. Some...
The host bacteria protect their own genomic DNA from these enzymes by methylating these sites. Some...
02:27Base-pairing and DNA Repair
Erwin Chargaff’s rules on DNA equivalence paved the way for the discovery of base pairing in DNA. Chargaff’s rules state that in a double-stranded DNA molecule,