The nature of the catalytic domain of 2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthetases

Saumendra N. Sarkar, Arundhati Ghosh, Hong Wu Wang, Shen Shu Sung, Ganes C. Sen

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    77 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    2'.5'-Oligoadenylate (2-5(A)) synthetases are a family of interferon- induced enzymes that are activated by double-stranded RNA. To understand why, unlike other DNA and RNA polymerases, they catalyze 2'-5' instead of 3'-5' phosphodiester bond formation, we used molecular modeling to compare the structure of the catalytic domain of DNA polymerase β (pol β) to that of a region of the P69 isozyme of 2-5(A) synthetase. Although the primary sequence identity is low, like pol β, P69 can assume an α β β α β β β structure in this region. Moreover, mutation of the three Asp residues of P69, which correspond to the three catalytic site Asp residues of pol β, inactivated the enzyme without affecting its substrate and activator binding capacity, providing further credence to the concept that this region is the catalytic domain of P69. This domain is highly conserved among all 2-5(A) synthetase isozymes. Biochemical and mutational studies demonstrated that dimerization of the P69 protein is required for its enzyme activity. However, a dimer containing a wild type subunit and an inactive catalytic domain mutant subunit was also active. The rate of catalysis of the heterodimer was half of that of the wild type homodimer, although the two proteins bound double-stranded RNA and ATP equally well.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)25535-25542
    Number of pages8
    JournalJournal of Biological Chemistry
    Volume274
    Issue number36
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Sep 3 1999

    All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

    • Biochemistry
    • Molecular Biology
    • Cell Biology

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