ATP-dependent DNA binding, unwinding, and resection by the Mre11/Rad50 complex.

ATP-dependent DNA end recognition and nucleolytic processing are central functions of the Mre11/Rad50 (MR) complex in DNA double-strand break repair. However, it is still unclear how ATP binding and hydrolysis primes the MR function and regulates repair pathway choice in cells. Here,Methanococcus jannaschii MR-ATPγS-DNA structure reveals that the partly deformed DNA runs symmetrically across central groove between two ATPγS-bound Rad50 nucleotide-binding domains. Duplex DNA cannot access the Mre11 active site in the ATP-free full-length MR complex. ATP hydrolysis drives rotation of the nucleotide-binding domain and induces the DNA melting so that the substrate DNA can access Mre11. Our findings suggest that the ATP hydrolysis-driven conformational changes in both DNA and the MR complex coordinate the melting and endonuclease activity.

DNA end recognition by the Mre11 nuclease dimer: insights into resection and repair of damaged DNA.

The Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 (MRN) complex plays important roles in sensing DNA damage, as well as in resecting and tethering DNA ends, and thus participates in double-strand break repair. An earlier structure of Mre11 bound to a short duplex DNA molecule suggested that each Mre11 in a dimer recognizes one DNA duplex to bridge two DNA ends at a short distance. Here, we provide an alternative DNA recognition model based on the structures of Methanococcus jannaschii Mre11 (MjMre11) bound to longer DNA molecules, which may more accurately reflect a broken chromosome. An extended stretch of B-form DNA asymmetrically runs across the whole dimer, with each end of this DNA molecule being recognized by an individual Mre11 monomer. DNA binding induces rigid-body rotation of the Mre11 dimer, which could facilitate melting of the DNA end and its juxtaposition to an active site of Mre11. The identified Mre11 interface binding DNA duplex ends is structurally conserved and shown to functionally contribute to efficient resection, non-homologous end joining, and tolerance to DNA-damaging agents when other resection enzymes are absent. Together, the structural, biochemical, and genetic findings presented here offer new insights into how Mre11 recognizes damaged DNA and facilitates DNA repair.

RanBPM protein acts as a negative regulator of BLT2 receptor to attenuate BLT2-mediated cell motility.

BLT2, a low affinity receptor for leukotriene B4 (LTB4), is a member of the G protein-coupled receptor family and is involved in many signal transduction pathways associated with various cellular phenotypes, including chemotactic motility. However, the regulatory mechanism for BLT2 has not yet been demonstrated. To understand the regulatory mechanism of BLT2, we screened and identified the proteins that bind to BLT2. Using a yeast two-hybrid assay with the BLT2 C-terminal domain as bait, we found that RanBPM, a previously proposed scaffold protein, interacts with BLT2. We demonstrated the specific interaction between BLT2 and RanBPM by GST pulldown assay and co-immunoprecipitation assay. To elucidate the biological function of the RanBPM-BLT2 interaction, we evaluated the effects of RanBPM overexpression or knockdown. We found that BLT2-mediated motility was severely attenuated by RanBPM overexpression and that knockdown of endogenous RanBPM by shRNA strongly promoted BLT2-mediated motility, suggesting a negative regulatory function of RanBPM toward BLT2. Furthermore, we observed that the addition of BLT2 ligands caused the dissociation of BLT2 and RanBPM, thus releasing the negative regulatory effect of RanBPM. Finally, we propose that Akt-induced BLT2 phosphorylation at residue Thr(355), which occurs after the addition of BLT2 ligands, is a potential mechanism by which BLT2 dissociates from RanBPM, resulting in stimulation of BLT2 signaling. Taken together, our results suggest that RanBPM acts as a negative regulator of BLT2 signaling to attenuate BLT2-mediated cell motility.