The DNA glycosylase AlkD uses a non-base-flipping mechanism to excise bulky lesions.

ABSTRACT: Threats to genomic integrity arising from DNA damage are mitigated by DNA glycosylases, which initiate the base excision repair pathway by locating and excising aberrant nucleobases. How these enzymes find small modifications within the genome is a current area of intensive research. A hallmark of these and other DNA repair enzymes is their use of base flipping to sequester modified nucleotides from the DNA helix and into an active site pocket. Consequently, base flipping is generally regarded as an essential aspect of lesion recognition and a necessary precursor to base excision. Here we present the first, to our knowledge, DNA glycosylase mechanism that does not require base flipping for either binding or catalysis. Using the DNA glycosylase AlkD from Bacillus cereus, we crystallographic

SUBMITTER: Mullins EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4896645 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature