Spectroscopic studies of the structural domains of mammalian DNA beta-polymerase.

The 8- and 31-kDa fragments of beta-polymerase, prepared by controlled proteolysis as described (Kumar, A., Widen, S. G., Williams, K. R., Kedar, P., Karpel, R. L., and Wilson, S. H. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 2124-2131), constitute domains that are structurally and functionally dissimilar. There is little disruption of secondary structure upon proteolysis of the intact enzyme, as suggested from CD spectra of the fragments. beta-Polymerase is capable of binding both single- and double-stranded nucleic acids: the 8-kDa fragment binds specifically to single-stranded lattices, whereas the 31-kDa domain displays affinity exclusively for double-stranded polynucleotides. These domains are connected by a highly flexible protease-hypersensitive segment that may allow the coordinate functioning of the two binding activities in the intact protein. beta-Polymerase binds to poly(ethenoadenylic acid) with higher affinity, similar cooperativity, but lesser salt dependence than the 8-kDa fragment. Under physiological conditions, the intact enzyme displays greater binding free energy for single-stranded polynucleotides than the 8-kDa fragment, suggesting that the latter may carry a truncated binding site. Binding of double-stranded calf thymus DNA brings about a moderate quenching of the Tyr and Trp fluorescence emission of both the 31-kDa fragment and beta-polymerase and induces a 6-nm blue shift in the Trp emission maximum of the intact enzyme, but not in the fragment. This latter result is likely due to a change in the relative orientation of the 8- and 31-kDa domains in the intact protein upon interaction with double-stranded DNA; alternatively, the binding mode of intact protein may differ from that of the fragment. Simultaneous interaction of both domains with polynucleotides most likely does not occur since double-stranded DNA binding to the 31-kDa domain of intact beta-polymerase induces the displacement of single-stranded polynucleotides from the 8-kDa domain. These results are evaluated in light of the role of beta-polymerase in DNA repair.