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Query: UNIPROT:P06889 (
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630,302
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
A critical step toward understanding mitochondrial genetics and its impact on human disease is to identify and characterize the full complement of nucleus-encoded factors required for mitochondrial gene expression and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication. Two factors required for transcription initiation from a human mitochondrial promoter are h-mtRNA polymerase and the DNA binding transcription factor, h-mtTFA. However, based on studies in model systems, the existence of a second human mitochondrial transcription factor has been postulated. Here we report the isolation of a cDNA encoding
h-mtTFB
, the human homolog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial transcription factor B (sc-mtTFB) and the first metazoan member of this class of transcription factors to which a gene has been assigned. Recombinant
h-mtTFB
is capable of binding mtDNA in a non-sequence-specific fashion and activates transcription from the human mitochondrial light-strand promoter in the presence of h-mtTFA in vitro. Remarkably,
h-mtTFB
and its fungal homologs are related in primary sequence to a superfamily of N6 adenine RNA methyltransferases. This observation, coupled with the ability of recombinant
h-mtTFB
to bind S-adenosylmethionine in vitro, suggests that a structural, and perhaps functional, relationship exists between this class of transcription factors and this family of RNA modification enzymes and that
h-mtTFB
may perform dual functions during mitochondrial gene expression.
Mol
Cell Biol 2002 Feb
PMID:A human mitochondrial transcription factor is related to RNA adenine methyltransferases and binds S-adenosylmethionine. 1180 3
A significant advancement in understanding mitochondrial gene expression is the recent identification of two new human mitochondrial transcription factors, h-mtTFB1 and h-mtTFB2. Both proteins stimulate transcription in collaboration with the high-mobility group box transcription factor, h-mtTFA, and are homologous to rRNA methyltransferases. In fact, the dual-function nature of h-mtTFB1 was recently demonstrated by its ability to methylate a conserved rRNA substrate. Here, we demonstrate that h-mtTFB1 binds h-mtTFA both in HeLa cell mitochondrial extracts and in direct-binding assays via an interaction that requires the C-terminal tail of h-mtTFA, a region necessary for transcriptional activation. In addition, point mutations in conserved methyltransferase motifs of h-mtTFB1 revealed that it stimulates transcription in vitro independently of S-adenosylmethionine binding and rRNA methyltransferase activity. Furthermore, one mutation (G65A) eliminated the ability of h-mtTFB1 to bind DNA yet did not affect transcriptional activation. These results, coupled with the observation that h-mtTFB1 and human mitochondrial RNA (h-mtRNA) polymerase can also be coimmunoprecipitated, lead us to propose a model in which h-mtTFA demarcates mitochondrial promoter locations and where
h-mtTFB
proteins bridge an interaction between the C-terminal tail of h-mtTFA and mtRNA polymerase to facilitate specific initiation of transcription. Altogether, these data provide important new insight into the mechanism of transcription initiation in human mitochondria and indicate that the dual functions of h-mtTFB1 can be separated.
Mol
Cell Biol 2003 Aug
PMID:Human mitochondrial transcription factor B1 interacts with the C-terminal activation region of h-mtTFA and stimulates transcription independently of its RNA methyltransferase activity. 1289 51
The bacterial enzyme KsgA catalyzes the transfer of a total of four methyl groups from S-adenosyl-l-methionine (S-AdoMet) to two adjacent adenosine bases in 16S rRNA. This enzyme and the resulting modified adenosine bases appear to be conserved in all species of eubacteria, eukaryotes, and archaebacteria, and in eukaryotic organelles. Bacterial resistance to the aminoglycoside antibiotic kasugamycin involves inactivation of KsgA and resulting loss of the dimethylations, with modest consequences to the overall fitness of the organism. In contrast, the yeast ortholog, Dim1, is essential. In yeast, and presumably in other eukaryotes, the enzyme performs a vital role in pre-rRNA processing in addition to its methylating activity. Another ortholog has been discovered recently,
h-mtTFB
in human mitochondria, which has a second function; this enzyme is a nuclear-encoded mitochondrial transcription factor. The KsgA enzymes are homologous to another family of RNA methyltransferases, the Erm enzymes, which methylate a single adenosine base in 23S rRNA and confer resistance to the MLS-B group of antibiotics. Despite their sequence similarity, the two enzyme families have strikingly different levels of regulation that remain to be elucidated. We have crystallized KsgA from Escherichia coli and solved its structure to a resolution of 2.1A. The structure bears a strong similarity to the crystal structure of ErmC' from Bacillus stearothermophilus and a lesser similarity to sc-mtTFB, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae version of
h-mtTFB
. Comparison of the three crystal structures and further study of the KsgA protein will provide insight into this interesting group of enzymes.
J
Mol
Biol 2004 May 28
PMID:Crystal structure of KsgA, a universally conserved rRNA adenine dimethyltransferase in Escherichia coli. 1513 37