1fzp
From Proteopedia
CRYSTAL STRUCTURES OF SARA: A PLEIOTROPIC REGULATOR OF VIRULENCE GENES IN S. AUREUS
Overview
Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen, the potency of which can be attributed to the regulated expression of an impressive array of virulence determinants. A key pleiotropic transcriptional regulator of these virulence factors is SarA, which is encoded by the sar (staphylococcal accessory regulator) locus. SarA was characterized initially as an activator of a second virulence regulatory locus, agr, through its interaction with a series of heptad repeats (AGTTAAG) within the agr promoter. Subsequent DNA-binding studies have revealed that SarA binds readily to multiple AT-rich sequences of variable lengths. Here we describe the crystal structure of SarA and a SarA-DNA complex at resolutions of 2.50 A and 2.95 A, respectively. SarA has a fold consisting of a four-helix core region and 'inducible regions' comprising a beta-hairpin and a carboxy-terminal loop. On binding DNA, the inducible regions undergo marked conformational changes, becoming part of extended and distorted alpha-helices, which encase the DNA. SarA recognizes an AT-rich site in which the DNA is highly overwound and adopts a D-DNA-like conformation by indirect readout. These structures thus provide insight into SarA-mediated transcription regulation.
About this Structure
1FZP is a Single protein structure of sequence from Staphylococcus aureus. Full crystallographic information is available from OCA.
Reference
Crystal structures of SarA, a pleiotropic regulator of virulence genes in S. aureus., Schumacher MA, Hurlburt BK, Brennan RG, Nature. 2001 Jan 11;409(6817):215-9. PMID:11196648 Page seeded by OCA on Fri May 2 16:56:53 2008
