Structural highlights
Function
[SECA_ECO55] Part of the Sec protein translocase complex. Interacts with the SecYEG preprotein conducting channel. Has a central role in coupling the hydrolysis of ATP to the transfer of proteins into and across the cell membrane, serving both as a receptor for the preprotein-SecB complex and as an ATP-driven molecular motor driving the stepwise translocation of polypeptide chains across the membrane.
Publication Abstract from PubMed
SecA is the ATPase of preprotein translocase. SecA is a dimer in solution and changes in its oligomeric state may function in preprotein translocation. The SecA-N68 construct, in which the C-terminal helical domains of SecA are deleted, was used to investigate the mechanism of SecA oligomerization. SecA-N68 is in equilibrium between monomers, dimers, and tetramers. Subunit interactions in the SecA-N68 tetramer are mediated entirely by unstructured regions at its N- and C-termini: when the termini are deleted to yield SecA-N68NC, the construct is completely monomeric. This monomeric construct yielded crystals diffracting to 2.6 A that were used to solve the structure of SecA-N68, including the "preprotein crosslinking domain" (PPXD) that was missing from previous E. coli SecA structures. The SecA-N68 structure was combined with small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data to construct a model of the SecA-N68 tetramer that is consistent with the essential roles of the extreme N- and C-termini in oligomerization. This mode of oligomerization, which depends on binding of the extreme N-terminus to the DEAD motor domains, NBD1 and NBD2, was used to model a novel parallel and flexible SecA solution dimer that agrees well with SAXS data.
An alternate mode of oligomerization for E. coli SecA.,Yazdi AK, Vezina GC, Shilton BH Sci Rep. 2017 Sep 18;7(1):11747. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-11648-5. PMID:28924213[1]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
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