Mediator function of the human Rad51B–Rad51C complex in Rad51/RPA-catalyzed DNA strand exchange (original) (raw)

  1. Stefan Sigurdsson1,
  2. Stephen Van Komen1,
  3. Wendy Bussen1,
  4. David Schild2,
  5. Joanna S. Albala3, and
  6. Patrick Sung1,4
  7. 1Department of Molecular Medicine/Institute of Biotechnology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78245-3207, USA; 2Life Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA; 3Biology and Biotechnology Research Program, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551-0808, USA

Abstract

Five Rad51-like proteins, referred to as Rad51 paralogs, have been described in vertebrates. We show that two of them, Rad51B and Rad51C, are associated in a stable complex. Rad51B–Rad51C complex has ssDNA binding and ssDNA-stimulated ATPase activities. We also examined the functional interaction of Rad51B–Rad51C with Rad51 and RPA. Even though RPA enhances Rad51-catalyzed DNA joint formation via removal of secondary structure in the ssDNA substrate, it can also compete with Rad51 for binding to the substrate, leading to suppressed reaction efficiency. The competition by RPA for substrate binding can be partially alleviated by Rad51B–Rad51C. This recombination mediator function of Rad51B–Rad51C is likely required for the assembly of the Rad51-ssDNA nucleoprotein filament in vivo.

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