Enzymological and structural studies of the mechanism of promiscuous substrate recognition by the oxidative DNA repair enzyme AlkB.

ABSTRACT: Promiscuous substrate recognition, the ability to catalyze transformations of chemically diverse compounds, is an evolutionarily advantageous, but poorly understood phenomenon. The promiscuity of DNA repair enzymes is particularly important, because it enables diverse kinds of damage to different nucleotide bases to be repaired in a metabolically parsimonious manner. We present enzymological and crystallographic studies of the mechanisms underlying promiscuous substrate recognition by Escherichia coli AlkB, a DNA repair enzyme that removes methyl adducts and some larger alkylation lesions from endocyclic positions on purine and pyrimidine bases. In vitro Michaelis-Menten analyses on a series of alkylated bases show high activity in repairing N1-methyladenine (m1A) and N3-methylcytosine (m3

SUBMITTER: Yu B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2725012 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature