Comparative Studies on Bulky DNA Damage Binding by Nucleotide Excision Repair Proteins Using Surface Plasmon Resonance, Differential Scanning Fluorometry, and DNase I Footprinting

Chem Res Toxicol. 2025 Jan 20;38(1):206-215. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.4c00456. Epub 2024 Dec 30.

Abstract

Nucleotide excision repair is a crucial cellular mechanism that ensures genomic stability, thereby preventing mutations that can lead to cancer. The human XPC and its yeast ortholog Rad4 protein complexes are central to this process and were the focus of the study. We used surface plasmon resonance and differential scanning fluorimetry to study the binding characteristics of XPC and Rad4 when bound to the bulky cluster di-FAAF-containing 55-mer duplex DNA. Our findings revealed that XPC binds 10 times more significant affinity to control and di-FAAF-modified DNA than Rad4 with greater protein-DNA interactions. Differential scanning fluorimetry indicates that Rad4 causes comparatively more significant conformational changes upon complexation with the damaged DNA. We conducted DNase I footprinting of the Rad4/DNA complex for the first time by determining the regions protected from DNase I digestion. The DNA at the lesion is entirely resistant to digestion by DNase I in the absence of Rad4 several nucleotides to the 3'-side of the first FAAF lesion. The lack of DNase I cleavage at the lesions did not change upon adding Rad4. However, in the presence of Rad4, a footprint is observed on the 7-nucleotide region (5'-TGGTGAT-3') of the complementary strand to the 3' side of the lesion.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • DNA / chemistry
  • DNA / metabolism
  • DNA Damage*
  • DNA Footprinting*
  • DNA Repair*
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / chemistry
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Deoxyribonuclease I* / chemistry
  • Deoxyribonuclease I* / metabolism
  • Excision Repair
  • Fluorometry*
  • Humans
  • Protein Binding
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / chemistry
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / metabolism
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance*

Substances

  • Deoxyribonuclease I
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • DNA
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
  • Rad4 protein, S cerevisiae