SUMMARY The breast cancer susceptibility protein, BRCA2, is essential for recombinational DNA repair. BRCA2 delivers RAD51 to double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) breaks through interaction with eight conserved, ~35 amino acid motifs, the BRC repeats. Here we show that the solitary BRC4 promotes assembly of RAD51 onto single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), but not dsDNA, to stimulate DNA strand exchange. BRC4 acts by blocking ATP hydrolysis and thereby maintaining the active ATP-bound form of the RAD51-ssDNA filament. Single-molecule visualization shows that BRC4 does not disassemble RAD51-dsDNA filaments, but rather blocks nucleation of RAD51 onto dsDNA. Furthermore, this behavior is manifest by a domain of BRCA2 comprising all eight BRC repeats. These results establish that the BRC repeats modulate RAD51-DNA interaction in two opposing, but functionally reinforcing ways: targeting active RAD51 to ssDNA and prohibiting RAD51 nucleation onto dsDNA. Thus, BRCA2 recruits RAD51 to DNA breaks and, we propose, the BRC repeats regulate DNA binding selectivity.

In this contribution we report optical spectroscopic data on a series of designed beta hairpins previously shown by NMR to contain a substantial population of beta-sheet structure. These models contain a designed hydrophobic cluster and a (D)Pro-Gly sequence to promote formation of a turn geometry. FTIR, electronic and vibrational CD (ECD and VCD) spectra for these small peptides are comparable to expected bandshapes for peptides of high beta-sheet content. The (D)Pro-Gly sequence provides a better turn motif than Asn-Gly as measured by its beta-sheet spectral characteristics. IR and VCD spectra are in qualitative agreement with theoretical simulations based on transfer of parameters from ab initio quantum mechanical force field and intensity computations for the turn and strands. These calculations provide assignments for some distinguishing modes in both IR and VCD spectra. Increased sheet structure can be induced in these hairpins by use of mixed solvent conditions. Thermal denaturation studies reveal that these hairpins undergo very broad unfolding transitions. Guanidine hydrochloride unfolding transitions for the selected hairpin models are similarly broad. However, the "end-states" of temperature and chaotropic denaturation are spectroscopically differentiable.

Rad51 protein (Rad51) is central to recombinational repair of double-strand DNA breaks. It polymerizes onto DNA and promotes strand exchange between homologous chromosomes. We visualized the real-time assembly and disassembly of human Rad51 nucleoprotein filaments on double-stranded DNA by single-molecule fluorescence microscopy. Rad51 assembly extends the DNA by Ϸ65%. Nucleoprotein filament formation occurs via rapid nucleation followed by growth from these nuclei. Growth does not continue indefinitely, however, and nucleoprotein filaments terminate when Ϸ2 m in length. The dependence of nascent filament formation on Rad51 concentration suggests that 2-3 Rad51 monomers are involved in nucleation. Rad51 nucleoprotein filaments are stable and remain extended when ATP hydrolysis is prevented; however, when permitted, filaments decrease in length as a result of conversion to ADP-bound nucleoprotein complexes and partial protein dissociation. Dissociation of Rad51 from dsDNA is slow and incomplete, thereby rationalizing the need for other proteins that facilitate disassembly.nucleation ͉ RecA protein ͉ recombination ͉ self-assembly ͉ single-molecule G enomes are continually attacked by both endogenous and exogenous agents that damage DNA. DNA damage in the form of DNA breaks can lead to chromosome translocations, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis. Homologous recombination is an essential biological process that ensures the accurate repair of DNA breaks and thereby contributes to genomic integrity. The recombinational repair of DNA with a break occurs by a multistep process (1-3). The first step requires resection of the broken duplex DNA by a helicase and/or nuclease to produce a region of 3Ј-terminated single-strand DNA (ssDNA) at the ends of the break (1, 4). These ssDNA tails serve as substrates for the assembly of a DNA strand exchange protein, such as RecA in bacteria or Rad51 in eukaryotes (2,3,5). This nucleoprotein filament finds homology in an intact DNA molecule and promotes DNA strand invasion to form an intermediate, termed a joint molecule. Pairing by both processed ends of the broken DNA, and their subsequent replication, results in formation of Holliday junctions. These Holliday junctions undergo branch migration and are resolved enzymatically to produce the repaired DNA.Rad51 protein (Rad51) assembles on either single-or doublestranded DNA (dsDNA) to produce a nucleoprotein filament that, at saturation, comprises 1 Rad51 monomer for every 3 nucleotides or base-pairs of DNA. Electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography show the Rad51 nucleoprotein filament to be a right-handed helical structure in which the DNA is stretched by Ϸ50% over its normal B-form length (6, 7). This filament displays ATP hydrolysis activity when assembled on either ssDNA or dsDNA. Rad51 promotes the homologous pairing of ssDNA with dsDNA; however, migration of the nascent DNA heteroduplex is relatively slow. This DNA strand exchange activity is substantially enhanced by RPA, and is regulated by several mediator proteins (Brca2...

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A characterization of the conformation and stability of model peptide systems that form beta-sheets in aqueous solutions is considerably important in gaining insights into the mechanism of beta-sheet formation in proteins. We have characterized the conformation and equilibrium folding and unfolding of two 20-residue peptides whose NMR spectra suggest a three-stranded beta-sheet topology in aqueous solution: Betanova [Kortemme, T., Ramirez-Alvarado, M., and Serrano, L. (1998) Science 281, 253-256] and (D)P(D)P with d-Pro-Gly segments at the turns [Schenck, H. L., and Gellman, S. H. (1998) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 120, 4869-4870]. Both circular dichroism (CD) and infrared measurements indicate only 20-26% beta-sheet-like structure at 5 degrees C for Betanova and 42-59% beta-sheet for (D)P(D)P. For both peptides, the CD and infrared spectra change nearly linearly with increasing temperatures (or urea concentrations) and lack a sigmoidal signature characteristic of cooperative unfolding. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurements between donor and acceptor molecules attached to the two ends confirm that Betanova is largely unstructured even at 10 degrees C; the average end-to-end distance estimated from FRET is closer to that of a random coil than a structured beta-sheet. In (D)P(D)P, the FRET results indicate a more compact structure that remains compact even at high temperatures (approximately 80 degrees C) or high urea concentrations (approximately 8 M). These results indicate that both these peptides access an ensemble of conformations at all temperatures or denaturant concentrations, with no significant free energy barrier separating the "folded" and "unfolded" conformations.