RING-CH finger, H2 subclass (C4HC3-type), found in non-structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) element 1 homolog (NSE1) and similar proteins
NSE1, also known as non-SMC element 1 homolog (NSMCE1), is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that contains a C4HC3-type RING-CH finger, also known as vRING or RINGv, a variant of C3H2C3-type RING-H2 finger. Together with its partner proteins NSE3 and NSE4, it forms a tight subcomplex of the SMC5-6 complex, which includes another two subcomplexes, SMC6-SMC5-NSE2 and NSE5-NSE6. The vRING finger is essential for normal NSE1-NSE3-NSE4 trimer formation in vitro and for damage-induced recruitment of NSE4 and SMC5 to subnuclear foci in vivo. Thus it functions as a protein-protein interaction domain required for SMC5-6 holocomplex integrity and recruitment to, or retention at, DNA lesions. The C-terminal half of NSE1, including the vRING finger, is required for DNA damage resistance and mitotic fidelity of SMC5-6 complex in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The RING-CH finger may play an important role in Rad52-dependent post-replication repair of UV-damaged DNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Comment:A RING finger typically binds two zinc atoms, with its Cys and/or His side chains in a unique "cross-brace" arrangement.
Comment:The RING fingers found in NSE1 and its homologs have an unusual arrangement of zinc-coordinating residues: the cysteines and histidines are arranged in the sequence as C4HC3-type, rather than the typical C3H2C3-type in RING-H2 finger.