Function
Transposases or transposition proteins bind to the ends of a transposon and catalyze its movement to another part of the genome by a cut-and-paste mechanism[1].
- Mu transposase (MuA) is essential for integration, replication-transposition and excision of bacteriophage Mu DNA into multiple sites of bacterial genome. Mu transposition occurs within the transposome which is a protein-DNA complex which includes 4 subunits of MuA[2].
- Hermes transposase is a fly protein[3].
- Dra2 transposase is a Deinococcus radiodurans protein
- Tn5 transposase active site contains the DDE motif which catalyzes the movement of the transposon[4].
- Tn7 transposase is bacterial and highly specific[5].
- Mos1 transposase mediates the movement of Mos1 transposon[6]
- Tc3 transposase mediates the movement of Tc3 transposon in C. elegans[7]
- Sleeping beauty transposase synthetic transposon developed as a non-viral vector for gene therapy[8]
Structural highlights
(PDB code 3ecp). Transposase contains a [9] enabling it to coordinate the binding of divalent metal ions. The metal ions affect transposase reactivity. The DDE motif is conserved in transposases and retroviral integrases and is essential for their activity.
3D structures of transposase
Transposase 3D structures
