Stimulation of vaccinia topoisomerase I by nucleoside triphosphates

The rate of relaxation of supercoiled DNA by purified vaccinia topoisomerase I is stimulated 20-fold by 5 mM ATP. A similar effect is elicited by GTP, CTP, UTP, dATP, and adenosine 5'-(beta, gamma-imido)triphosphate. ATP-mediated rate enhancement requires salt as a coactivator. ADP and inorganic pyrophosphate also stimulate relaxation 10-20-fold, whereas AMP and inorganic phosphate have little effect. A model for allosteric activation of topoisomerase by nucleotides is suggested.