The Mycobacterium tuberculosis Ku C-terminus is a multi-purpose arm for binding DNA and LigD and stimulating ligation.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial non-homologous end joining requires the ligase, LigD and Ku. Ku finds the break site, recruits LigD, and then assists LigD to seal the phosphodiester backbone. Bacterial Ku contains a core domain conserved with eukaryotes but has a unique C-terminus that can be divided into a minimal C-terminal region that is conserved and an extended C-terminal region that varies in sequence and length between species. Here, we examine the role of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Ku C-terminal variants, where we removed either the extended or entire C-terminus to investigate the effects on Ku-DNA binding, rates of Ku-stimulated ligation, and binding affinity of a direct Ku-LigD interaction. We find that the extended C-terminus limits DNA binding and identify key amino acids that contribute to this eff

SUBMITTER: Sowa DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9638933 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature