The molecular architecture of the mammalian DNA repair enzyme, polynucleotide kinase

Mol Cell. 2005 Mar 4;17(5):657-70. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2005.02.012.

Abstract

Mammalian polynucleotide kinase (PNK) is a key component of both the base excision repair (BER) and nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) DNA repair pathways. PNK acts as a 5'-kinase/3'-phosphatase to create 5'-phosphate/3'-hydroxyl termini, which are a necessary prerequisite for ligation during repair. PNK is recruited to repair complexes through interactions between its N-terminal FHA domain and phosphorylated components of either pathway. Here, we describe the crystal structure of intact mammalian PNK and a structure of the PNK FHA bound to a cognate phosphopeptide. The kinase domain has a broad substrate binding pocket, which preferentially recognizes double-stranded substrates with recessed 5' termini. In contrast, the phosphatase domain efficiently dephosphorylates single-stranded 3'-phospho termini as well as double-stranded substrates. The FHA domain is linked to the kinase/phosphatase catalytic domain by a flexible tether, and it exhibits a mode of target selection based on electrostatic complementarity between the binding surface and the phosphothreonine peptide.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Motifs
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Binding Sites
  • Catalytic Domain
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • DNA Repair*
  • DNA, Complementary / metabolism
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Glutathione Transferase / metabolism
  • Kinetics
  • Mice
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Oligonucleotides / chemistry
  • Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases / chemistry
  • Phosphorylation
  • Polynucleotide 5'-Hydroxyl-Kinase / chemistry
  • Polynucleotide 5'-Hydroxyl-Kinase / physiology*
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence
  • Static Electricity
  • Substrate Specificity
  • Trypsin / chemistry

Substances

  • DNA, Complementary
  • Oligonucleotides
  • Glutathione Transferase
  • Polynucleotide 5'-Hydroxyl-Kinase
  • Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases
  • Trypsin

Associated data

  • PDB/1YJ5
  • PDB/1YJM