Shivji MK, Davies OR, Savill JM, Bates DL, Pellegrini L, Venkitaraman AR

Human BRCA2, a breast and ovarian cancer suppressor, binds to the DNA recombinase RAD51 through eight conserved BRC repeats, motifs of approximately 30 residues, dispersed across a large region of the protein. BRCA2 is essential for homologous recombination in vivo, but isolated BRC repeat peptides can prevent the assembly of ...

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RAD51 into active nucleoprotein filaments in vitro, suggesting a model in which BRCA2 sequesters RAD51 in undamaged cells, and promotes recombinase function after DNA damage. How BRCA2 might fulfill these dual functions is unclear. We have purified a fragment of human BRCA2 (BRCA2(BRC1-8)) with 1127 residues spanning all 8 BRC repeats but excluding the C-terminal DNA-binding domain (BRCA2(CTD)). BRCA2(BRC1-8) binds RAD51 nucleoprotein filaments in a ternary complex, indicating it may organize RAD51 on DNA. Human RAD51 is relatively ineffective in vitro at strand exchange between homologous DNA molecules unless non-physiological ions like NH4+ are present. In an ionic milieu more typical of the mammalian nucleus, BRCA2(BRCI-8) stimulates RAD51-mediated strand exchange, suggesting it may be an essential co-factor in vivo. Thus, the human BRC repeats, embedded within their surronding sequences as an eight-repeat unit, mediate homologous recombination independent of the BRCA2(CTD) through a previously unrecognized role in control of RAD51 activity.

Date: Aug. 18, 2006

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