Journal Article

The δ subunit and NTPase HelD institute a two-pronged mechanism for RNA polymerase recycling

Gao, Yuan, Artsimovitch, Irina, Wahl, Markus C., Pei, Hao-Hong, Hilal, Tarek, Rappsilber, Juri, Chen, Zhuo A., Huang, Yong-Heng, Belogurov, Georgiy A., Said, Nelly, Loll, Bernhard

2020

Overview

Cellular RNA polymerases (RNAPs) can become trapped on DNA or RNA, threatening genome stability and limiting free enzyme pools, but how RNAP recycling into active states is achieved remains elusive. In Bacillus subtilis , the RNAP δ subunit and NTPase HelD have been implicated in RNAP recycling. We structurally analyzed Bacillus subtilis RNAP-δ-HelD complexes. HelD has two long arms: a Gre cleavage factor-like coiled-coil inserts deep into the RNAP secondary channel, dismantling the active site and displacing RNA, while a unique helical protrusion inserts into the main channel, prying the β and β′ subunits apart and, aided by δ, dislodging DNA. RNAP is recycled when, after releasing trapped nucleic acids, HelD dissociates from the enzyme in an ATP-dependent manner. HelD abundance during slow growth and a dimeric (RNAP-δ-HelD) 2 structure that resembles hibernating eukaryotic RNAP I suggest that HelD might also modulate active enzyme pools in response to cellular cues. The bacterial helicase-like transcription factor HelD interacts with the RNA polymerase (RNAP) and together with the RNAP δ subunit enhances RNAP cycling. Here, the authors present the cryo-EM structures of the monomeric and dimeric Bacillus subtilis RNAP-δ-HelD complexes and suggest a model for HelD/δ-mediated RNAP recycling and putative hibernation.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group,Nature Portfolio
• Subject: 101/28 / 147/143 / 631/337/572 / 631/45/173 / 631/45/535/1258/1259 / 631/45/612/822 / 82/16 / 82/29 / 82/58 / 82/83 / Adenosine Triphosphate - metabolism / Bacillus subtilis / Bacillus subtilis - enzymology / Bacterial Proteins - chemistry / Bacterial Proteins - metabolism / Catalytic Domain / Coils / Deoxyribonucleic acid / Dimers / DNA / DNA helicase / DNA-directed RNA polymerase / DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases - chemistry / DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases - metabolism / Enzymes / Genomes / Hibernation / Humanities and Social Sciences / Inserts / Models, Molecular / multidisciplinary / Nucleic acids / Nucleoside-Triphosphatase - chemistry / Nucleoside-Triphosphatase - metabolism / Pools / Protein Multimerization / Protein Subunits - chemistry / Protein Subunits - metabolism / Ribonucleic acid / RNA / RNA polymerase / Science / Science (multidisciplinary)