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Dapkūnas J, Timinskas A, Olechnovič K, Tomkuvienė M, Venclovas Č. PPI3D: a web server for searching, analyzing and modeling protein-protein, protein-peptide and protein-nucleic acid interactions. Nucleic Acids Res 2024:gkae278. [PMID: 38619046 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2024] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Structure-resolved protein interactions with other proteins, peptides and nucleic acids are key for understanding molecular mechanisms. The PPI3D web server enables researchers to query preprocessed and clustered structural data, analyze the results and make homology-based inferences for protein interactions. PPI3D offers three interaction exploration modes: (i) all interactions for proteins homologous to the query, (ii) interactions between two proteins or their homologs and (iii) interactions within a specific PDB entry. The server allows interactive analysis of the identified interactions in both summarized and detailed manner. This includes protein annotations, structures, the interface residues and the corresponding contact surface areas. In addition, users can make inferences about residues at the interaction interface for the query protein(s) from the sequence alignments and homology models. The weekly updated PPI3D database includes all the interaction interfaces and binding sites from PDB, clustered based on both protein sequence and structural similarity, yielding non-redundant datasets without loss of alternative interaction modes. Consequently, the PPI3D users avoid being flooded with redundant information, a typical situation for intensely studied proteins. Furthermore, PPI3D provides a possibility to download user-defined sets of interaction interfaces and analyze them locally. The PPI3D web server is available at https://bioinformatics.lt/ppi3d.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justas Dapkūnas
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio av. 7, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Albertas Timinskas
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio av. 7, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Kliment Olechnovič
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio av. 7, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LJK, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Miglė Tomkuvienė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio av. 7, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Česlovas Venclovas
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio av. 7, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
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2
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Kriukienė E, Tomkuvienė M, Klimašauskas S. 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine: the many faces of the sixth base of mammalian DNA. Chem Soc Rev 2024; 53:2264-2283. [PMID: 38205583 DOI: 10.1039/d3cs00858d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Epigenetic phenomena play a central role in cell regulatory processes and are important factors for understanding complex human disease. One of the best understood epigenetic mechanisms is DNA methylation. In the mammalian genome, cytosines (C) in CpG dinucleotides were long known to undergo methylation at the 5-position of the pyrimidine ring (mC). Later it was found that mC can be oxidized to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC) or even further to 5-formylcytosine (fC) and to 5-carboxylcytosine (caC) by the action of 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases of the TET family. These findings unveiled a long elusive mechanism of active DNA demethylation and bolstered a wave of studies in the area of epigenetic regulation in mammals. This review is dedicated to critical assessment of recent data on biochemical and chemical aspects of the formation and conversion of hmC in DNA, analytical techniques used for detection and mapping of this nucleobase in mammalian genomes as well as epigenetic roles of hmC in DNA replication, transcription, cell differentiation and human disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edita Kriukienė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio al. 7, LT-10257 Vilnius, Lithuania.
| | - Miglė Tomkuvienė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio al. 7, LT-10257 Vilnius, Lithuania.
| | - Saulius Klimašauskas
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio al. 7, LT-10257 Vilnius, Lithuania.
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3
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Tomkuvienė M, Meier M, Ikasalaitė D, Wildenauer J, Kairys V, Klimašauskas S, Manelytė L. Enhanced nucleosome assembly at CpG sites containing an extended 5-methylcytosine analogue. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:6549-6561. [PMID: 35648439 PMCID: PMC9226530 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Methylation of cytosine to 5-methylcytosine (mC) at CpG sites is a prevalent reversible epigenetic mark in vertebrates established by DNA methyltransferases (MTases); the attached methyl groups can alter local structure of DNA and chromatin as well as binding of dedicated proteins. Nucleosome assembly on methylated DNA has been studied extensively, however little is known how the chromatin structure is affected by larger chemical variations in the major groove of DNA. Here, we studied the nucleosome formation in vitro on DNA containing an extended 5mC analog, 5-(6-azidohex-2-ynyl)cytosine (ahyC) installed at biological relevant CpG sites. We found that multiple ahyC residues on 80-Widom and Hsp70 promoter DNA fragments proved compatible with nucleosome assembly. Moreover, unlike mC, ahyC increases the affinity of histones to the DNA, partially altering nucleosome positioning, stability, and the action of chromatin remodelers. Based on molecular dynamics calculations, we suggest that these new features are due to increased DNA flexibility at ahyC-modified sites. Our findings provide new insights into the biophysical behavior of modified DNA and open new ways for directed design of synthetic nucleosomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miglė Tomkuvienė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Markus Meier
- Biochemistry III, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, DE-93053, Germany
| | - Diana Ikasalaitė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Julia Wildenauer
- Biochemistry III, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, DE-93053, Germany
| | - Visvaldas Kairys
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Saulius Klimašauskas
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Laura Manelytė
- Biochemistry III, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, DE-93053, Germany
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4
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Tesfahun AN, Alexeeva M, Tomkuvienė M, Arshad A, Guragain P, Klungland A, Klimašauskas S, Ruoff P, Bjelland S. Alleviation of C⋅C Mismatches in DNA by the Escherichia coli Fpg Protein. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:608839. [PMID: 34276575 PMCID: PMC8278400 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.608839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
DNA polymerase III mis-insertion may, where not corrected by its 3′→ 5′ exonuclease or the mismatch repair (MMR) function, result in all possible non-cognate base pairs in DNA generating base substitutions. The most thermodynamically unstable base pair, the cytosine (C)⋅C mismatch, destabilizes adjacent base pairs, is resistant to correction by MMR in Escherichia coli, and its repair mechanism remains elusive. We present here in vitro evidence that C⋅C mismatch can be processed by base excision repair initiated by the E. coli formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (Fpg) protein. The kcat for C⋅C is, however, 2.5 to 10 times lower than for its primary substrate 8-oxoguanine (oxo8G)⋅C, but approaches those for 5,6-dihydrothymine (dHT)⋅C and thymine glycol (Tg)⋅C. The KM values are all in the same range, which indicates efficient recognition of C⋅C mismatches in DNA. Fpg activity was also exhibited for the thymine (T)⋅T mismatch and for N4- and/or 5-methylated C opposite C or T, Fpg activity being enabled on a broad spectrum of DNA lesions and mismatches by the flexibility of the active site loop. We hypothesize that Fpg plays a role in resolving C⋅C in particular, but also other pyrimidine⋅pyrimidine mismatches, which increases survival at the cost of some mutagenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Almaz Nigatu Tesfahun
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Marina Alexeeva
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Miglė Tomkuvienė
- Department of Biological DNA Modification, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Aysha Arshad
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Prashanna Guragain
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Arne Klungland
- Department of Microbiology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.,Department of Molecular Medicine, Life Sciences Center, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Saulius Klimašauskas
- Department of Biological DNA Modification, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Peter Ruoff
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Svein Bjelland
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.,Department of Clinical Molecular Biology, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway
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Tomkuvienė M, Ikasalaitė D, Slyvka A, Rukšėnaitė A, Ravichandran M, Jurkowski TP, Bochtler M, Klimašauskas S. Enzymatic Hydroxylation and Excision of Extended 5-Methylcytosine Analogues. J Mol Biol 2020; 432:6157-6167. [PMID: 33065111 PMCID: PMC7763475 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2020.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2020] [Revised: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Methylation of cytosine to 5-methylcytosine (mC) is a prevalent reversible epigenetic mark in vertebrates established by DNA methyltransferases (MTases); the methylation mark can be actively erased via a multi-step demethylation mechanism involving oxidation by Ten-eleven translocation (TET) enzyme family dioxygenases, excision of the latter oxidation products by thymine DNA (TDG) or Nei-like 1 (NEIL1) glycosylases followed by base excision repair to restore the unmodified state. Here we probed the activity of the mouse TET1 (mTET1) and Naegleria gruberi TET (nTET) oxygenases with DNA substrates containing extended derivatives of the 5-methylcytosine carrying linear carbon chains and adjacent unsaturated CC bonds. We found that the nTET and mTET1 enzymes were active on modified mC residues in single-stranded and double-stranded DNA in vitro, while the extent of the reactions diminished with the size of the extended group. Iterative rounds of nTET hydroxylations of ssDNA proceeded with high stereo specificity and included not only the natural alpha position but also the adjoining carbon atom in the extended side chain. The regioselectivity of hydroxylation was broken when the reactive carbon was adjoined with an sp1 or sp2 system. We also found that NEIL1 but not TDG was active with bulky TET-oxidation products. These findings provide important insights into the mechanism of these biologically important enzymatic reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miglė Tomkuvienė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Diana Ikasalaitė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Anton Slyvka
- International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 02-109 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Audronė Rukšėnaitė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | | | | | - Matthias Bochtler
- International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 02-109 Warsaw, Poland; Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Saulius Klimašauskas
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania.
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Alexeeva M, Guragain P, Tesfahun AN, Tomkuvienė M, Arshad A, Gerasimaitė R, Rukšėnaitė A, Urbanavičiūtė G, Bjørås M, Laerdahl JK, Klungland A, Klimašauskas S, Bjelland S. Excision of the doubly methylated base N4,5-dimethylcytosine from DNA by Escherichia coli Nei and Fpg proteins. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 373:rstb.2017.0337. [PMID: 29685966 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/30/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Cytosine (C) in DNA is often modified to 5-methylcytosine (m5C) to execute important cellular functions. Despite the significance of m5C for epigenetic regulation in mammals, damage to m5C has received little attention. For instance, almost no studies exist on erroneous methylation of m5C by alkylating agents to doubly or triply methylated bases. Owing to chemical evidence, and because many prokaryotes express methyltransferases able to convert m5C into N4,5-dimethylcytosine (m N4,5C) in DNA, m N4,5C is probably present in vivo We screened a series of glycosylases from prokaryotic to human and found significant DNA incision activity of the Escherichia coli Nei and Fpg proteins at m N4,5C residues in vitro The activity of Nei was highest opposite cognate guanine followed by adenine, thymine (T) and C. Fpg-complemented Nei by exhibiting the highest activity opposite C followed by lower activity opposite T. To our knowledge, this is the first description of a repair enzyme activity at a further methylated m5C in DNA, as well as the first alkylated base allocated as a Nei or Fpg substrate. Based on our observed high sensitivity to nuclease S1 digestion, we suggest that m N4,5C occurs as a disturbing lesion in DNA and that Nei may serve as a major DNA glycosylase in E. coli to initiate its repair.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Frontiers in epigenetic chemical biology'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Alexeeva
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Technology-Centre for Organelle Research, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, PO Box 8600 Forus, 4021 Stavanger, Norway
| | - Prashanna Guragain
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Technology-Centre for Organelle Research, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, PO Box 8600 Forus, 4021 Stavanger, Norway
| | - Almaz N Tesfahun
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Technology-Centre for Organelle Research, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, PO Box 8600 Forus, 4021 Stavanger, Norway
| | - Miglė Tomkuvienė
- Department of Biological DNA Modification, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius 10257, Lithuania
| | - Aysha Arshad
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Technology-Centre for Organelle Research, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, PO Box 8600 Forus, 4021 Stavanger, Norway
| | - Rūta Gerasimaitė
- Department of Biological DNA Modification, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius 10257, Lithuania
| | - Audronė Rukšėnaitė
- Department of Biological DNA Modification, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius 10257, Lithuania
| | - Giedrė Urbanavičiūtė
- Department of Biological DNA Modification, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius 10257, Lithuania
| | - Magnar Bjørås
- Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.,Department of Microbiology, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, 0372 Oslo, Norway
| | - Jon K Laerdahl
- Department of Microbiology, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, 0372 Oslo, Norway
| | - Arne Klungland
- Department of Microbiology, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, 0372 Oslo, Norway.,Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, 0317 Oslo, Norway
| | - Saulius Klimašauskas
- Department of Biological DNA Modification, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius 10257, Lithuania
| | - Svein Bjelland
- Department of Chemistry, Bioscience and Environmental Technology-Centre for Organelle Research, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, PO Box 8600 Forus, 4021 Stavanger, Norway
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7
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Tomkuvienė M, Mickutė M, Vilkaitis G, Klimašauskas S. Repurposing enzymatic transferase reactions for targeted labeling and analysis of DNA and RNA. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2018; 55:114-123. [PMID: 30296696 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2018.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Revised: 09/14/2018] [Accepted: 09/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Produced as linear biopolymers from four major types of building blocks, DNA and RNA are further furnished with a range of covalent modifications. Despite the impressive specificity of natural enzymes, the transferred groups are often poor reporters and not amenable to further derivatization. Therefore, strategies based on repurposing some of these enzymatic reactions to accept derivatized versions of the transferrable groups have been exploited. By far the most widely used are S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferases, which along with several other nucleic acids modifying enzymes offer a broad selection of tagging chemistries and molecular features on DNA and RNA that can be targeted in vitro and in vivo. Engineered enzymatic reactions have been implemented in validated DNA sequencing-based protocols for epigenome analysis. The utility of chemo-enzymatic labeling is further enhanced with recent advances in physical detection of individual reporter groups on DNA using super resolution microscopy and nanopore sensing enabling single-molecule multiplex analysis of genetic and epigenetic marks in minute samples. Altogether, a number of new powerful techniques are currently in use or on the verge of real benchtop applications as research tools or next generation diagnostics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miglė Tomkuvienė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio av. 7, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Milda Mickutė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio av. 7, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Giedrius Vilkaitis
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio av. 7, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Saulius Klimašauskas
- Institute of Biotechnology, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio av. 7, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania.
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Tomkuvienė M, Ličytė J, Olendraitė I, Liutkevičiūtė Z, Clouet-d'Orval B, Klimašauskas S. Archaeal fibrillarin-Nop5 heterodimer 2'- O-methylates RNA independently of the C/D guide RNP particle. RNA 2017; 23:1329-1337. [PMID: 28576826 PMCID: PMC5558902 DOI: 10.1261/rna.059832.116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Accepted: 05/19/2017] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Archaeal fibrillarin (aFib) is a well-characterized S-adenosyl methionine (SAM)-dependent RNA 2'-O-methyltransferase that is known to act in a large C/D ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex together with Nop5 and L7Ae proteins and a box C/D guide RNA. In the reaction, the guide RNA serves to direct the methylation reaction to a specific site in tRNA or rRNA by sequence complementarity. Here we show that a Pyrococcus abyssi aFib-Nop5 heterodimer can alone perform SAM-dependent 2'-O-methylation of 16S and 23S ribosomal RNAs in vitro independently of L7Ae and C/D guide RNAs. Using tritium-labeling, mass spectrometry, and reverse transcription analysis, we identified three in vitro 2'-O-methylated positions in the 16S rRNA of P. abyssi, positions lying outside of previously reported pyrococcal C/D RNP methylation sites. This newly discovered stand-alone activity of aFib-Nop5 may provide an example of an ancestral activity retained in enzymes that were recruited to larger complexes during evolution.
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MESH Headings
- Archaea/genetics
- Archaea/metabolism
- Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone/chemistry
- Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone/metabolism
- Methylation
- Nucleic Acid Conformation
- Protein Binding
- Protein Multimerization
- RNA, Archaeal/genetics
- RNA, Archaeal/metabolism
- RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/chemistry
- RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics
- RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/metabolism
- RNA, Ribosomal, 23S/chemistry
- RNA, Ribosomal, 23S/genetics
- RNA, Ribosomal, 23S/metabolism
- Ribonucleoproteins/chemistry
- Ribonucleoproteins/metabolism
- Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nucleolar/chemistry
- Ribonucleoproteins, Small Nucleolar/metabolism
- Substrate Specificity
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Affiliation(s)
- Miglė Tomkuvienė
- Department of Biological DNA Modification, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Janina Ličytė
- Department of Biological DNA Modification, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Ingrida Olendraitė
- Department of Biological DNA Modification, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
- Division of Virology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, United Kingdom
| | - Zita Liutkevičiūtė
- Department of Biological DNA Modification, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
| | - Béatrice Clouet-d'Orval
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires UMR 5100, CNRS, Université de Toulouse, F-31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Saulius Klimašauskas
- Department of Biological DNA Modification, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius LT-10257, Lithuania
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9
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Abstract
DNA methyltransferases (MTases) uniquely combine the ability to recognize and covalently modify specific target sequences in DNA using the ubiquitous cofactor S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet). Although DNA methylation plays important roles in biological signaling, the transferred methyl group is a poor reporter and is highly inert to further biocompatible derivatization. To unlock the biotechnological power of these enzymes, two major types of cofactor AdoMet analogs were developed that permit targeted MTase-directed attachment of larger moieties containing functional or reporter groups onto DNA. One such approach (named sequence-specific methyltransferase-induced labeling, SMILing) uses reactive aziridine or N-mustard mimics of the cofactor AdoMet, which render targeted coupling of a whole cofactor molecule to the target DNA. The second approach (methyltransferase-directed transfer of activated groups, mTAG) uses AdoMet analogs with a sulfonium-bound extended side chain replacing the methyl group, which permits MTase-directed covalent transfer of the activated side chain alone. As the enlarged cofactors are not always compatible with the active sites of native MTases, steric engineering of the active site has been employed to optimize their alkyltransferase activity. In addition to the described cofactor analogs, recently discovered atypical reactions of DNA cytosine-5 MTases involving non-cofactor-like compounds can also be exploited for targeted derivatization and labeling of DNA. Altogether, these approaches offer new powerful tools for sequence-specific covalent DNA labeling, which not only pave the way to developing a variety of useful techniques in DNA research, diagnostics, and nanotechnologies but have already proven practical utility for optical DNA mapping and epigenome studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miglė Tomkuvienė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, LT-10222, Lithuania
| | - Edita Kriukienė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, LT-10222, Lithuania
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Lukinavičius G, Tomkuvienė M, Masevičius V, Klimašauskas S. Enhanced chemical stability of adomet analogues for improved methyltransferase-directed labeling of DNA. ACS Chem Biol 2013; 8:1134-9. [PMID: 23557731 DOI: 10.1021/cb300669x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Methyltransferases catalyze specific transfers of methyl groups from the ubiquitous cofactor S-adenosyl-l-methionine (AdoMet) to various nucleophilic positions in biopolymers like DNA, RNA, and proteins. We had previously described synthesis and application of AdoMet analogues carrying sulfonium-bound 4-substituted but-2-ynyl side chains for transfer by methyltransferases. Although useful in certain applications, these cofactor analogues exhibited short lifetimes in physiological buffers. Examination of the reaction kinetics and products showed that their fast inactivation followed a different pathway than observed for AdoMet and rather involved a pH-dependent addition of a water molecule to the side chain. This side reaction was eradicated by synthesis of a series of cofactor analogues in which the separation between an electronegative group and the triple bond was increased from one to three carbon units. The designed hex-2-ynyl moiety-based cofactor analogues with terminal amino, azide, or alkyne groups showed a markedly improved enzymatic transalkylation activity and proved well suitable for methyltransferase-directed sequence-specific labeling of DNA in vitro and in bacterial cell lysates.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Miglė Tomkuvienė
- Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, LT-02241 Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Viktoras Masevičius
- Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius University, LT-02241 Vilnius, Lithuania
- Faculty of Chemistry, Vilnius University, LT-03225 Vilnius, Lithuania
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