Rad51 protein promotes homologous recombination in eukaryotes. Recombination activities are activated by Rad51 filament assembly on ssDNA. Previous studies of yeast Rad51 showed that His352 occupies an important position at the filament interface, where it could relay signals between subunits and active sites. To investigate, we characterized yeast Rad51 H352A and H352Y mutants, and solved the structure of H352Y. H352A forms catalytically competent but salt-labile complexes on ssDNA. In contrast, H352Y forms salt-resistant complexes on ssDNA, but is defective in nucleotide exchange, RPA displacement and strand exchange with full-length DNA substrates. The 2.5 Å crystal structure of H352Y reveals a right-handed helical filament in a high-pitch (130 Å) conformation with P61 symmetry. The catalytic core and dimer interface regions of H352Y closely resemble those of DNA-bound Escherichia coli RecA protein. The H352Y mutation stabilizes Phe187 from the adjacent subunit in a position that interferes with the γ-phosphate-binding site of the Walker A motif/P-loop, potentially explaining the limited catalysis observed. Comparison of Rad51 H352Y, RecA–DNA and related structures reveals that the presence of bound DNA correlates with the isomerization of a conserved cis peptide near Walker B to the trans configuration, which appears to prime the catalytic glutamate residue for ATP hydrolysis.

The fungal toxin cytochalasin D (CD) interferes with the normal dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton by binding to the barbed end of actin filaments. Despite its widespread use as a tool for studying actin-mediated processes, the exact location and nature of its binding to actin has not been previously determined. Here we describe two crystal structures of an expressed monomeric actin in complex with CD, one obtained by soaking preformed actin crystals with CD, and the other by co-crystallization. The binding site for CD, in the hydrophobic cleft between actin subdomains 1 and 3, is the same in the two structures. Polar and hydrophobic contacts play an equally important role in CD binding, and six hydrogen bonds stabilize the actin-CD complex. Many unrelated actin-binding proteins and marine toxins target this cleft, and the hydrophobic pocket at the front end of the cleft (viewing actin with subdomain 2 in the upper right corner). CD differs in that it binds to the back half of the cleft. The ability of CD to induce actin dimer formation and actin-catalyzed ATP hydrolysis may be related to its unique binding site, and the necessity to fit its bulky macrocycle into this cleft. Contacts with residues lining this cleft appear to be crucial to capping and/or severing. The co-crystallized actin-CD structure also revealed changes in actin conformation. A rotation of ~6° of the smaller actin domain (subdomains 1 and 2) with respect to the larger domain (subdomains 3 and 4) results in small changes in crystal packing that allow the D-loop to adopt an extended loop structure, instead of being disordered as it is in most crystal structures of actin. We speculate that these changes represent a potential conformation that the actin monomer can adopt on the pathway to polymerization or in the filament.

UvsY, the recombination mediator protein of bacteriophage T4, has been crystallized in both native and selenium-substituted forms. X-ray diffraction data have been collected to 2.2 Å.

Bacteriophage T4 UvsY protein is considered to be the prototype of recombination mediator proteins, a class of proteins which assist in the loading of recombinases onto DNA. Wild-type and Se-substituted UvsY protein have been expressed and purified and crystallized by hanging-drop vapor diffusion. The crystals diffract to 2.4 Å using in-house facilities and to 2.2 Å at NSLS, Brookhaven National Laboratory. The crystals belong to space group P422, P4222, P4212 or P42212, the ambiguity arising from pseudo-centering, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 76.93, c = 269.8 Å. Previous biophysical characterization of UvsY indicates that it exists primarily as a hexamer in solution. Along with the absence of a crystallographic threefold, this suggests that the asymmetric unit of these crystals is likely to contain either three monomers, giving a solvent content of 71%, or six monomers, giving a solvent content of 41%.

Serum transferrin reversibly binds iron in each of two lobes and delivers it to cells by a receptor-mediated, pH-dependant process. The binding and release of iron results in a large conformational change in which two subdomains in each lobe close or open with a rigid twisting motion around a hinge. We report the structure of human serum transferrin (hTF) lacking iron (apo-hTF) which was independently determined by two methods: (1) the crystal structure of recombinant non-glycosylated apo-hTF was solved at 2.7 Å resolution using a MAD phasing strategy, by substituting the nine methionines in hTF with selenomethionine and (2) the structure of glycosylated apo-hTF (isolated from serum) was determined to a resolution of 2.7 Å by molecular replacement using the human apo-N-lobe and the rabbit holo-C1-subdomain as search models. These two crystal structures are essentially identical. They represent the first published model for full-length human TF and reveal that, in contrast to family members (human lactoferrin and hen ovotransferrin), both lobes are almost equally open: 59.4° and 49.5° rotations are required to open the N- and C-lobe, respectively, (compared to closed pig TF). Availability of this structure is critical to a complete understanding of the metal binding properties of each lobe of hTF; the apo-hTF structure suggests that differences in the hinge regions of the N- and C-lobes may influence the rates of iron binding and release. In addition, we evaluate potential interactions between apo-hTF and the human transferrin receptor.