Restriction endonucleases interact with DNA at specific sites leading to cleavage of DNA. Bacterial DNA is protected from restriction endonuclease cleavage by modifying the DNA using a DNA methyltransferase. Based on their molecular structure, sequence recognition, cleavage position and cofactor requirements, restriction-modification (R-M) systems are classified into four groups. Type III R-M e...

Metnase (SETMAR) is a SET and transposase fusion protein that promotes in vivo end joining activity and mediates genomic integration of foreign DNA. Recent studies showed that Metnase retained most of the transposase activities, including 5'-terminal inverted repeat (TIR)-specific binding and assembly of a paired end complex, and cleavage of the 5'-end of the TIR element. Here we show that R432...

Exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) during procedures such as abdominal and pelvic radiotherapy results in severe intestinal injury. In the current study, we demonstrated that a lethal dose of IR triggered epithelial cell apoptosis pyroptosis via Caspase-3 cleavage. The ginseng active ingredients, ginsenosides (GS) phenolic acids (GPA), significantly inhibited IR-induced IEC-6 cells. GS GPA als...

Topoisomerase (topo) IV and gyrase are bacterial type IIA DNA topoisomerases essential for DNA replication and chromosome segregation that act via a transient double-stranded DNA break involving a covalent enzyme-DNA "cleavage complex." Despite their mechanistic importance, the DNA breakage determinants are not understood for any bacterial type II enzyme. We investigated DNA cleavage by Strepto...

In recent years, great interest has been focused on gold(III) complexes as cytotoxic and antitumor drugs. Recent studies demonstrated that simple bidentate or polydentate ligands containing nitrogen donor atoms may offer sufficient redox stabilization to produce viable Au(III) anticancer drug targets under physiologic conditions. So, we have synthesized square planer Au(III) complexes of type [...

DNA topoisomerase II is a molecular machine that couples ATP hydrolysis to the transport of one DNA segment through a transient break in another segment. To learn about the energetic connectivity that underlies this coupling, we investigated how the ATPase domains exert control over DNA cleavage. We dissected the DNA cleavage reaction by measuring rate and equilibrium constants for the individu...

Escherichia coli RecA protein, in the presence of ATP or its analog adenosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate, polymerizes on single-stranded DNA to form nucleoprotein filaments that can then bind to homologous sequences on duplex DNA. The three-stranded joint molecule formed as a result of this binding event is a key intermediate in general recombination. We have used affinity cleavage to examine ...

SUMMARY Escherichia coli HU, a nonsequence-specific histone- and HMG-like DNA-binding protein, was chemically converted into a series of HU-nucleases with an iron-EDTA-based cleavage moiety positioned at 16 rationally selected sites. Specific DNA cleavage patterns from each of these HU-nucleases allowed us to determine the precise localization, stoichiometry, and orientation of HU binding in th...

Class-switch recombination (CSR), induced by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), can be divided into two phases: DNA cleavage of the switch (S) regions and the joining of the cleaved ends of the different S regions. Here, we show that the DSIF complex (Spt4 and Spt5), a transcription elongation factor, is required for CSR in a switch-proficient B cell line CH12F3-2A cells, and Spt4 and...