Summary information and primary citation

PDB-id
6t8h; SNAP-derived features in text and JSON formats; DNAproDB
Class
replication
Method
cryo-EM (3.77 Å)
Summary
cryo-EM structure of the DNA-bound pold-pcna processive complex from p. abyssi
Reference
Madru C, Henneke G, Raia P, Hugonneau-Beaufet I, Pehau-Arnaudet G, England P, Lindahl E, Delarue M, Carroni M, Sauguet L (2020): "Structural basis for the increased processivity of D-family DNA polymerases in complex with PCNA." Nat Commun, 11, 1591. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15392-9.
Abstract
Replicative DNA polymerases (DNAPs) have evolved the ability to copy the genome with high processivity and fidelity. In Eukarya and Archaea, the processivity of replicative DNAPs is greatly enhanced by its binding to the proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) that encircles the DNA. We determined the cryo-EM structure of the DNA-bound PolD-PCNA complex from Pyrococcus abyssi at 3.77 Å. Using an integrative structural biology approach - combining cryo-EM, X-ray crystallography, protein-protein interaction measurements, and activity assays - we describe the molecular basis for the interaction and cooperativity between a replicative DNAP and PCNA. PolD recruits PCNA via a complex mechanism, which requires two different PIP-boxes. We infer that the second PIP-box, which is shared with the eukaryotic Polα replicative DNAP, plays a dual role in binding either PCNA or primase, and could be a master switch between an initiation and a processive phase during replication.

Cartoon-block schematics in six views (download the tarball)

PyMOL session file Download PDB file View in 3Dmol.js