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Journal of Biochemistry Advance Access originally published online on December 13, 2006
Journal of Biochemistry 2007 141(2):201-211; doi:10.1093/jb/mvm020
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© 2006 The Japanese Biochemical Society.

The C-terminal Tail of Mitochondrial Transcription Factor A Markedly Strengthens its General Binding to DNA

Kippei Ohgaki1, Tomotake Kanki1, Atsushi Fukuoh1, Hironori Kurisaki1, Yoshimasa Aoki1, Masaki Ikeuchi1,2, Sang Ho Kim1,3, Naotaka Hamasaki1 and Dongchon Kang1,*

1Department of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine and 2Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Fukuoka, Japan 3Department of Biology Education, Daegu University, Kyungsan, Korea

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +81-92-642-5749, Fax: +81-92-642-5772, E-mail: kang{at}mailserver.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp

Received November 27, 2006; Accepted November 29, 2006


   Abstract

Mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) contains a basic C-terminal tail which is essential for the promoter-specific transcription. TFAM is also a major component of a protein–mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) complex, called nucleoid, as a non-specific DNA-binding protein. However, little is known about a role of the C-tail in the nucleoid. Overexpression of full-length TFAM decreased the amount of a D-loop form of mtDNA in cells, while overexpression of TFAM lacking its C-tail (TFAM-{Delta}C) did not, suggesting that the C-tail is involved in destabilization or formation of the D-loop. An mRNA for mtDNA-derived ND1 was hardly decreased in the former but rather decreased in the latter. Given that the D-loop formation is coupled with the transcription, the decrease in the D-loop is likely due to its destabilization. The recombinant full-length TFAM much strongly unwound DNA than TFAM-{Delta}C, which is consistent with the above idea because D-loop is resolved by unwinding of the supercoiling state. Notably, truncation of the C-tail decreased DNA-binding activity of TFAM by three orders of magnitude. Thus, the C-terminal tail of TFAM is important for the strong general binding to mtDNA. This strong DNA-binding conferred by the C-tail may play an important role in the nucleoid structure.

Key Words: D-loop, mitochondrial DNA, nucleoid, TFAM, transcription


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