PNNL

Abstract

Formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (Fpg) is a base excision repair protein that removes oxidative DNA lesions. Recent crystal structures of Fpg bound to DNA revealed residues involved in damage recognition and enzyme catalysis, but failed to shed light on the dynamic nature of the processes. To examine the structural and dynamic changes that occur in solution when Fpg binds DNA, NMR spectroscopy was used to study Escherichia coli Fpg free and bound to a double-stranded DNA oligomer (13-PD) containing propanediol, a non-hydrolyzable abasic-site analogue. Only 209 out of a possible 252 (83%) free-precession HSQC cross peaks were observed and 180 of these were assignable, indicating that ~30% of the residues undergo intermediate timescale motion that makes them intractable in backbone assignment experiments. DNA titration experiments revealed line broadening and chemical shift perturbations for backbone amides nearby and distant from the DNA binding surface, but failed to quench the intermediate time-scale motion observed for free Fpg. CPMG-HSQC experiments revealed millisecond to microsecond motion for the backbone amides of D91 and H92 that was quenched upon binding 13-PD. Collectively, these observations reveal that, in solution, Fpg contains highly flexible regions. The dynamic nature of Fpg, especially at the DNA binding surface, may be key to its processive search mechanism.