Chemistry and Biology of DNA Methyltransferases

. After AdoHcy release, the enzyme remains in the F conformational form and is able to preferentially bind AdoMet (unlike form E, which randomly binds AdoMet and DNA), and the AdoMet-F binary complex then binds DNA to start another methylation cycle. We also propose an alternative pathway in which the release of AdoHcy is coordinated with the binding of AdoMet in a single concerted event, while T4 Dam remains in the isomerized form F. The resulting AdoMet-F binary complex then binds DNA, and another methylation reaction ensues. This route is preferred at high AdoMet concentrations.

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacteriophage T4 Dam DNA-[N6-adenine]Methyltransferase

Evdokimov¹,

Zinoviev²,

Malygin³

et al. 2002

“…Methyltransferase-catalyzed modification of substrate DNA, RNA, or protein serves as a key signal in the regulation and maintenance of diverse biological processes in a range of organisms from prokaryotes to eukaryotes (1,2). Subsequent to its isolation from Hemophilus haemolyticus nearly a quarter century ago, HhaI DNA methyltransferase (M.HhaI) 1 has been subjected to incisive investigations yielding detailed insights into the reaction chemistry (3)(4)(5)(6)(7).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Water-assisted Dual Mode Cofactor Recognition by HhaI DNA Methyltransferase

Swaminathan¹,

Sankpal²,

Rao³

et al. 2002

Self Cite

Methyltransferase-catalyzed modification of substrate DNA, RNA, or protein serves as a key signal in the regulation and maintenance of diverse biological processes in a range of organisms from prokaryotes to eukaryotes (1, 2). Subsequent to its isolation from Hemophilus haemolyticus nearly a quarter century ago, HhaI DNA methyltransferase (M.HhaI) 1 has been subjected to incisive investigations yielding detailed insights into the reaction chemistry (3-7). M.HhaI is an S-adenosyl-Lmethionine (AdoMet) dependent DNA methyltransferase that catalyzes the covalent attachment of a methyl group at the C-5 position of the aromatic ring of the first cytosine in the specific sequence 5Ј-GCGC-3Ј. Its ability to perform the methyl transfer within the B-DNA helix was rationalized by a localized "DNA backbone rotation" by nearly 180°(base flipping) without significantly bending or kinking of the rest of the duplex (8 -11). Base flipping serves to deliver the base into a concave catalytic site in the enzyme (8). The Gln 287 side chain fills up the gap generated concomitantly in the DNA bound with M.HhaI, leading to a stable and specific interruption of the aromatic -stacked base pairs, a feature recently utilized to evaluate long range electron migration through DNA (12). M.HhaI methylates all of the cytosines in poly(dG-dC) DNA (3), with hemimethylated DNA being the preferred substrate (13). Both the reaction product S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (AdoHcy) (14) and, by implication, the cofactor AdoMet (7), appear to share the ability to drive M.HhaI to trap the target cytosine in the catalytic site to form a productive complex. These results portray AdoMet and AdoHcy as important modulators of the multiple binding modes of the DNA-bound enzyme.Despite a wealth of information on the structural, dynamic, and kinetic aspects of the M.HhaI mechanism, little attention has been paid to the energetics of AdoMet and AdoHcy recognition reactions. No molecule other than ATP serves as a cofactor in more diverse reactions than does AdoMet (15). It was, therefore, of interest to understand the thermodynamic basis of recognition of the ubiquitous cofactor AdoMet by methyltransferases, a feature shared among structurally related enzymes that catalyze reactions with diverse substrate specificities (16 -18). For example, a snapshot of a step that follows methyl transfer has been elucidated by crystallographic analyses of the DNA intermediate covalently bound to M.HhaI (8) and M.HaeIII (19). Despite its absence in the original crystallization mix of the ternary complex, it was AdoHcy that was found, fortuitously, to reside within the cofactor binding pocket (8) shared by AdoMet (16). This illustrates that the transfer of the methyl group from AdoMet to the target cytosine results in the formation not only of the modified (i.e. methylated) DNA but also the transformation of AdoMet into AdoHcy. On the other * This work was supported by grants from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (to D. N. R. and A. S.) and the Department of Scien...

“…For example, it was recently shown that an active dam gene is crucial for the manifestation of pathogenic properties of Salmonella typhimurium, as well as a number of other bacteria that inhabit the human intestine (3). The biological role of other prokaryotic MTases, which mainly belong to the type II class of modification enzymes, appears to be limited to the protection of cellular DNA against hydrolysis by their cognate restriction endonucleases (1), although their wider biological participation in cellular metabolism is under discussion (4). Thus, the elucidation of the mechanism of action of DNA MTases is of great interest.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA (Cytosine-N 4-)- and -(Adenine-N 6-)-methyltransferases Have Different Kinetic Mechanisms but the Same Reaction Route

Malygin

Zinoviev

Evdokimov

et al. 2003

We studied the kinetics of methyl group transfer by the BamHI DNA-(cytosine-N 4 -)-methyltransferase (MTase) from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens to a 20-mer oligodeoxynucleotide duplex containing the palindromic recognition site GGATCC. Under steady state conditions the BamHI MTase displayed a simple kinetic behavior toward the 20-mer duplex. There was no apparent substrate inhibition at concentrations much higher than the K m for either DNA (100-fold higher) or S-adenosyl-Lmethionine (AdoMet) (20-fold higher); this indicates that dead-end complexes did not form in the course of the methylation reaction. The DNA methylation rate was analyzed as a function of both substrate and product concentrations. It was found to exhibit product inhibition patterns consistent with a steady state random bi-bi mechanism in which the dominant order of substrate binding and product release (methylated DNA, DNA Me , and S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine, AdoHcy) was AdoMet2DNA2DNAMe 1AdoHcy1. The M.BamHI kinetic scheme was compared with that for the T4 Dam (adenine-N 6 -)-MTase. The two differed with respect to an effector action of substrates and in the rate-limiting step of the reaction (product inhibition patterns are the same for the both MTases). From this we conclude that the common chemical step in the methylation reaction, methyl transfer from AdoMet to a free exocyclic amino group, is not sufficient to dictate a common kinetic scheme even though both MTases follow the same reaction route.