Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Integrase”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 973 records · Page 54Linked to original sources

The integrase family of site-specific recombinases: regional similarities and global diversity.

A combination of two methods for detecting distant relationships in protein primary sequences was used to compare the site-specific recombination proteins encoded by bacteriophage lambda, phi 80, P22, P2, 186, P4 and P1. This group of proteins exhibits an unexpectedly large diversity of sequences. Despite this diversity, all of the recombinases can be aligned in their C-terminal halves. A 40-residue region near the C terminus is particularly well conserved in all the proteins and is homologous to a region near the C terminus of the yeast 2 mu plasmid Flp protein. This family of recombinases does not appear to be related to any other site-specific recombinases. Three positions are perfectly conserved within this family: histidine, arginine and tyrosine are found at respective alignment positions 396, 399 and 433 within the well-conserved C-terminal region. We speculate that these residues contribute to the active site of this family of recombinases, and suggest that tyrosine-433 forms a transient covalent linkage to DNA during strand cleavage and rejoining.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Characterization of the bacteriophage lambda excisionase (Xis) protein: the C-terminus is required for Xis-integrase cooperativity but not for DNA binding.

We have performed a mutational analysis of the xis gene of bacteriophage lambda. The Xis protein is 72 amino acids in length and required for excisive recombination. Twenty-six mutants of Xis were isolated that were impaired or deficient in lambda excision. Mutant proteins that contained amino acid substitutions in the N-terminal 49 amino acids of Xis were defective in excisive recombination and were unable to bind DNA. In contrast, one mutant protein containing a leucine to proline substitution at position 60 and two truncated proteins containing either the N-terminal 53 or 64 amino acids continued to bind lambda DNA, interact cooperatively with FIS and promote excision. However, these three mutants were unable to bind DNA cooperatively with Int. Cooperativity between wild-type Xis and Int required the presence of FIS, but not the Int core-type binding sites. This study shows that Xis has at least two functional domains and also demonstrates the importance of the cooperativity in DNA binding of FIS, Xis and Int in lambda excision.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Dissecting the resolution reaction of lambda integrase using suicide Holliday junction substrates.

A reciprocal strand exchange between two DNA helices generates the crossed-strand intermediate, or Holliday junction, which is common to many pathways of homologous and site-specific recombination. The Int family of recombinases are unique in their ability to both make and resolve Holliday junctions. Previous experiments utilizing 'synthetic' att site Holliday junctions to study the mechanisms associated with the cleavage, transfer and ligation of DNA strands have been confined to studying reciprocal strand exchanges (a pair of temporally overlapping strand cleavages). To circumvent this limitation, we have designed synthetic suicide Holliday junctions that make it possible to monitor individual DNA strand cleavage events. These substrates contain a pre-existing nick in the vicinity of the Int binding site; when Int introduces a second nick into these substrates, the 5'OH nucleophile required for ligation (in either the forward or reverse reaction) is lost by diffusion, thus trapping the covalent protein-DNA intermediate. The results indicate that resolution (involving two partner Ints) is stimulated by additional 'cross-core' Ints as a result of enhanced cleavage rates, and not as a result of enhanced co-ordination of cleavage. Several models for the role of the 'cross-core' Ints during resolution are discussed, as well as the usefulness of these substrates for studying additional aspects of the Holliday junction resolution reaction.

Attachment Sites, Microbiological↗

Topology of Xer recombination on catenanes produced by lambda integrase.

Xer site-specific recombination at the psi site from plasmid pSC101 displays topological selectivity, such that recombination normally occurs only between directly repeated sites on the same circular DNA molecule. This intramolecular selectivity is important for the biological role of psi, and is imposed by accessory proteins PepA and ArcA acting at accessory DNA sequences adjacent to the core recombination site. Here we show that the selectivity for intramolecular recombination at psi can be bypassed in multiply interlinked catenanes. Xer site-specific recombination occurred relatively efficiently between antiparallel psi sites located on separate rings of right-handed torus catenanes containing six or more nodes. This recombination introduced one additional node into the catenanes. Antiparallel sites on four-noded right-handed catenanes, the normal product of Xer recombination at psi, were not recombined efficiently. Furthermore, parallel psi sites on right-handed torus catenanes were not substrates for Xer recombination. These findings support a model in which psi sites are plectonemically interwrapped, trapping a precise number of supercoils that are converted to four catenation nodes by Xer strand exchange.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

Nucleotide sequence of the rci gene encoding shufflon-specific DNA recombinase in the IncI1 plasmid R64: homology to the site-specific recombinases of integrase family.

Shufflon is a novel type of DNA rearrangement in which four DNA segments are flanked by seven 19-bp repeat sequences. The site-specific recombination between any inverted repeats results in an inversion of the DNA segment(s) either independently or in groups. The recombination is mediated by a gene designated rci. We have determined the nucleotide sequence of the rci gene and found that it encodes a basic protein with 384 amino acid residues. The rci gene was fused with lacZ and its gene product was identified by Western blot analysis. The Rci protein shows regional homologies to the site-specific recombinases encoded by the bacteriophage genomes, including those of lambda, phi 80, P22, P2, 186, P4 and P1.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Overexpression and purification of enzymatically active recombinant integrase protein of Rous sarcoma virus.

The carboxy-terminal domain of polymerase gene of Rous sarcoma virus was cloned into an expression vector under the control of lac regulatory elements, resulting in the plasmid pMF1413. Upon isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside induction, viral integration (IN) protein was expressed in large quantity in Escherichia coli. The expressed recombinant protein was prepurified by successive washing of the bacterial pellet with 0.1 M NaCl and detergents. Further purification was performed in high yield by standard chromatography methods. The purified enzyme revealed selective DNA cleaving activity on supercoiled plasmid with the LTR-LTR junction fragment. The reaction was metal ion dependent, with a preference for Mn2+ over Mg2+, and showed substrate specificity at 1 mM MnCl2.

Avian Sarcoma Viruses↗

Characterization of mutant HIV-1 integrase carrying amino acid changes in the catalytic domain.

To gain insight into the importance of conserved residues in the core domain of HIV-1 IN, we performed site-directed mutagenesis of the full-length enzyme, overexpressed the mutant proteins in E. coli, purified and analyzed their 3'-processing, integration and disintegration activities in vitro. Change of E152V in the DD(35)E motif abolished all detectable activities of IN. Alteration of two highly conserved residues, P145 and K156, by isoleucine, resulted in a substantial loss or completely abolished the three activities of the enzyme. Mutant P90D weakly reduced the 3'-processing but severely affected the two other IN activities. Results obtained from double and triple mutations, P90D/P1451 and P145I/F185K/C280S, clearly suggest a crucial role of P145 in the catalytic function of IN, whereas the mutants V150E, L158F and L172M had no detectable effect on any of the IN activities. Taken together, these results allowed us to conclude that all the conserved amino acids in the core domain of IN are not equally important for catalytic functions: like D64, D116 and E152, our data suggest that P90, P145 and K156 are also essential for all three enzymatic activities of HIV-1 IN in vitro, whereas V150, L158 and L172 appear to be less critical.

Amino Acid Sequence↗