Savva, Renos;
(1995)
Structural studies of a uracil-DNA glycosylase from herpes simplex virus type 1.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
The work presented in this thesis describes experiments carried out in order to determine the three-dimensional structure of a DNA repair enzyme, uracil-DNA glycosylase. An open reading frame, UL2, in the herpes simplex virus type 1 genome, is known to encode a uracil-DNA glycosylase. By sequence homology, there are three candidate start codons which might express a functional uracil-DNA glycosylase. Expression from two of these was attempted in Escherichia coli, using plasmids designed for high level production of recombinant proteins. The second candidate start codon produces high levels of a soluble, functional uracil-DNA glycosylase in Escherichia coli both in a native form, and as part of a fusion protein. Both the fusion and the native form of the enzyme have been purified to apparent homogeneity, as has a recombinantly expressed insoluble Escherichia coli uracil-DNA glycosylase. Preliminary attempts were made at deriving structural and functional information from the soluble, native recombinant herpes simplex enzyme with the use of circular dichroism. This form of uracil-DNA glycosylase has subsequently been crystallised in two ways, firstly as the free enzyme, and secondly in a complex with a single stranded DNA oligonucleotide. Extensive optimisation of the crystallisation parameters have been carried out in conjunction with modifications to the original purification protocol, and large, single crystals of both free, and DNA bound forms, suitable for X-ray diffraction studies are now readily reproduced. A systematic search for isomorphous heavy atom derivatives has been carried out for both types of crystal, and preliminary phases have been obtained for the DNA-bound form of the enzyme. This has enabled the calculation of an electron density map in which protein secondary structure features can be located. Improvement of this map will reveal the molecular structure of the enzyme/ DNA complex.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Structural studies of a uracil-DNA glycosylase from herpes simplex virus type 1 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Thesis digitised by ProQuest. |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10098923 |
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