Mechanism for nucleic acid chaperone activity of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein revealed by single molecule stretching

Mark C. Williams, Ioulia Rouzina, Jay R. Wenner, Robert J. Gorelick, Karin Musier-Forsyth, Victor A. Bloomfield

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

157 Scopus citations

Abstract

The nucleocapsid protein (NC) of HIV type I is a nucleic acid chaperone that facilitates the rearrangement of nucleic acids into conformations containing the maximum number of complementary base pairs. We use an optical tweezers instrument to stretch single DNA molecules from the helix to coil state at room temperature in the presence of NC and a mutant form (SSHS NC) that lacks the two zinc finger structures present in NC. Although both NC and SSHS NC facilitate annealing of complementary strands through electrostatic attraction, only NC destabilizes the helical form of DNA and reduces the cooperativity of the helix-coil transition. In particular, we find that the helix-coil transition free energy at room temperature is significantly reduced in the presence of NC. Thus, upon NC binding, it is likely that thermodynamic fluctuations cause continuous melting and reannealing of base pairs so that DNA strands are able to rapidly sample configurations to find the lowest energy state. The reduced cooperativity allows these fluctuations to occur in the middle of complex double-stranded structures. The reduced stability and cooperativity, coupled with the electrostatic attraction generated by the high charge density of NC, is responsible for the nucleic acid chaperone activity of this protein.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)6121-6126
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume98
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - May 22 2001

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Mechanism for nucleic acid chaperone activity of HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein revealed by single molecule stretching'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this