Extensive Bioinformatics Analyses Reveal a Phylogenetically Conserved Winged Helix (WH) Domain (Zτ) of Topoisomerase IIα, Elucidating Its Very High Affinity for Left-Handed Z-DNA and Suggesting Novel Putative Functions.

ABSTRACT: The dynamic processes operating on genomic DNA, such as gene expression and cellular division, lead inexorably to topological challenges in the form of entanglements, catenanes, knots, "bubbles", R-loops, and other outcomes of supercoiling and helical disruption. The resolution of toxic topological stress is the function attributed to DNA topoisomerases. A prominent example is the negative supercoiling (nsc) trailing processive enzymes such as DNA and RNA polymerases. The multiple equilibrium states that nscDNA can adopt by redistribution of helical twist and writhe include the left-handed double-helical conformation known as Z-DNA. Thirty years ago, one of our labs isolated a protein from Drosophila cells and embryos with a 100-fold greater affinity for Z-DNA than for B-DNA, and id

SUBMITTER: Bartas M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10341724 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature