SNAP output for PDB entry 4mky [SNAP web server]

PDB-id

4mky; SNAP-derived features in text and JSON formats; DNAproDB

Class

transferase-DNA

Method

X-ray (2.4 Å)

Summary

Polymerase domain from mycobacterium tuberculosis ligase d in complex with an annealed double-strand DNA break.

Reference

Brissett NC, Martin MJ, Bartlett EJ, Bianchi J, Blanco L, Doherty AJ (2013): "Molecular Basis for DNA Double-Strand Break Annealing and Primer Extension by an NHEJ DNA Polymerase." Cell Rep, 5, 1108-1120. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2013.10.016.

Abstract

Nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) is one of the major DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair pathways. The mechanisms by which breaks are competently brought together and extended during NHEJ is poorly understood. As polymerases extend DNA in a 5'-3' direction by nucleotide addition to a primer, it is unclear how NHEJ polymerases fill in break termini containing 3' overhangs that lack a primer strand. Here, we describe, at the molecular level, how prokaryotic NHEJ polymerases configure a primer-template substrate by annealing the 3' overhanging strands from opposing breaks, forming a gapped intermediate that can be extended in trans. We identify structural elements that facilitate docking of the 3' ends in the active sites of adjacent polymerases and reveal how the termini act as primers for extension of the annealed break, thus explaining how such DSBs are extended in trans. This study clarifies how polymerases couple break-synapsis to catalysis, providing a molecular mechanism to explain how primer extension is achieved on DNA breaks.