Location

University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia

Document Type

Poster (UR Campus Access Only)

Description

All organisms replicate DNA to be used during cell division and passed on to offspring. In order for this process to occur, DNA polymerase I must form base pairs between complementary nucleotides. Deprotonation of the primer 3’-OH strand readies the DNA for forming a covalent bond with the next nucleotide. Histidine 829 is a potential proton acceptor, seeing as its imidazole side chain has a pKa≈6. Here, we report X-ray crystal structures of H829A, H829F and H829G. Mutations to histidine 829 led to changes in the orientation of nearby residues. Kinetics studies would show whether these mutations lead to changes in the activity of DNA polymerase I.

Comments

Department: Biology

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Eugene Wu

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Effects of mutations of highly conserved active site histidine on DNA polymerase I structure and activity

University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia

All organisms replicate DNA to be used during cell division and passed on to offspring. In order for this process to occur, DNA polymerase I must form base pairs between complementary nucleotides. Deprotonation of the primer 3’-OH strand readies the DNA for forming a covalent bond with the next nucleotide. Histidine 829 is a potential proton acceptor, seeing as its imidazole side chain has a pKa≈6. Here, we report X-ray crystal structures of H829A, H829F and H829G. Mutations to histidine 829 led to changes in the orientation of nearby residues. Kinetics studies would show whether these mutations lead to changes in the activity of DNA polymerase I.