Use of Site-Specifically Tethered Chemical Nucleases to Study Macromolecular Reactions.

ABSTRACT: During a complex macromolecular reaction multiple changes in molecular conformation and interactions with ligands may occur. X-ray crystallography may provide only a limited set of snapshots of these changes. Solution methods can augment such structural information to provide a more complete picture of a macromolecular reaction. We analyzed the changes in protein conformation and protein:nucleic acid interactions which occur during transcription initiation by using a chemical nuclease tethered to cysteines introduced site-specifically into the RNA polymerase of bacteriophage T7 (T7 RNAP). Changes in cleavage patterns as the polymerase steps through transcription reveal a series of structural transitions which mediate transcription initiation. Cleavage by tethered chemical nucleases is seen

SUBMITTER: Mukherjee S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC152577 | biostudies-literature | 2003

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature