The Bcl-2 family of proteins regulates mitochondrial functions during cell death by modulating the efflux of death-promoting proteins such as cytochrome c and endonuclease G. Upon the binding of death ligands to their receptors, caspase-8 cleaves Bid, a BH3-only protein, into tBid that causes the mitochondrial damages resulting in the release of cytochrome c and endonuclease G. Also, another BH...

Strategies to resolve replication blocks are critical for the maintenance of genome stability. Among the factors implicated in the replication stress response is the ATP-dependent endonuclease ZRANB3. Here, we present the structure of the ZRANB3 HNH (His-Asn-His) endonuclease domain and provide a detailed analysis of its activity. We further define PCNA as a key regulator of ZRANB3 function, wh...

A survey of a vast range of mycobacterial strains led us to discover a new Pps1 intein allele in Mycobacterium gastri which differs from those of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae in both its sequence and insertion site. While little is known about Pps1, except that it belongs to the YC24 family of ABC transporters, we show that, unlike the other inteins described so far from ...

Type I restriction-modification (RM) systems are comprised of two multi-subunit enzymes, the methyltransferase (∼160 kDa), responsible for methylation of DNA, and the restriction endonuclease (∼400 kDa), responsible for DNA cleavage. Both enzymes share a number of subunits. An engineered RM system, EcoR124I(NT), based on the N-terminal domain of the specificity subunit of EcoR124I was construct...

DNA cleavage by the Type III Restriction-Modification (RM) enzymes requires the binding of a pair of RM enzymes at two distant, inversely orientated recognition sequences followed by helicase-catalysed ATP hydrolysis and long-range communication. Here we addressed the dissociation from DNA of these enzymes at two stages: during long-range communication and following DNA cleavage. First, we demo...

Several lipocalins contain conserved amino acid sequences similar to the phosphodiester bond cleavage domain of sugar non-specific magnesium-dependent nucleases of the Serratia marcescens type. His-89 and Glu-127 of the S. marcescens endonuclease are believed to have a role in the active catalytic site by the attack of a water molecule at the phosphorus atom of the bridging phosphate. Tear lipo...