Commentary on: Divalent metal cofactors differentially modulate RadA-mediated strand invasion and exchange in Saccharolobus solfataricus

RecA ATPases are a family of proteins that catalyzes the exchange of complementary DNA regions via homologous recombination. They are conserved from bacteria to humans and are crucial for DNA damage repair and genetic diversity. In this work, Knadler et al. examine how ATP hydrolysis and divalent ca...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Mangialavori, Irene Cecilia
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2023
Country:Argentina
Institution:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repository:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/227940
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/227940
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:RECA ATPASES
MG BINDING SITE
ATPASE ACTIVITY
RAD A-SACCHAROLOBUS SOLFATARICUS
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Description
Summary:RecA ATPases are a family of proteins that catalyzes the exchange of complementary DNA regions via homologous recombination. They are conserved from bacteria to humans and are crucial for DNA damage repair and genetic diversity. In this work, Knadler et al. examine how ATP hydrolysis and divalent cations impact the recombinase activity of Saccharolobus solfataricus RadA protein (ssoRadA). They find that the ssoRadA-mediated strand exchange depends on ATPase activity. The presence of Manganese reduces ATPase activity and enhances strand exchange, while calcium inhibits ATPase activity by preventing ATP binding to the protein, yet destabilizes the nucleoprotein ssoRadA filaments, allowing strand exchange regardless of the ATPase activity. Although RecA ATPases are highly conserved, this research offers intriguing new evidence that each member of the family requires individual evaluation.