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Structural analysis and DNA binding of the HMG domains of the human mitochondrial transcription factor A

The mitochondrial transcription factor A (mtTFA) is central to assembly and initiation of the mitochondrial transcription complex. Human mtTFA (h-mtTFA) is a dual high mobility group box (HMGB) protein that binds site-specifically to the mitochondrial genome and demarcates the promoters for recruitm...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Gangelhoff, Todd A., Mungalachetty, Purnima S., Nix, Jay C., Churchill, Mair E. A.
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2691818/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19304746
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkp157
Descripción
Sumario:The mitochondrial transcription factor A (mtTFA) is central to assembly and initiation of the mitochondrial transcription complex. Human mtTFA (h-mtTFA) is a dual high mobility group box (HMGB) protein that binds site-specifically to the mitochondrial genome and demarcates the promoters for recruitment of h-mtTFB1, h-mtTFB2 and the mitochondrial RNA polymerase. The stoichiometry of h-mtTFA was found to be a monomer in the absence of DNA, whereas it formed a dimer in the complex with the light strand promoter (LSP) DNA. Each of the HMG boxes and the C-terminal tail were evaluated for their ability to bind to the LSP DNA. Removal of the C-terminal tail only slightly decreased nonsequence specific DNA binding, and box A, but not box B, was capable of binding to the LSP DNA. The X-ray crystal structure of h-mtTFA box B, at 1.35 Å resolution, revealed the features of a noncanonical HMG box. Interactions of box B with other regions of h-mtTFA were observed. Together, these results provide an explanation for the unusual DNA-binding properties of box B and suggest possible roles for this domain in transcription complex assembly.