Tertiary structure of uracil-DNA glycosylase inhibitor protein

Abstract

The Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage PBS2 uracil-DNA glycosylase inhibitor (Ugi) is an acidic protein of 84 amino acids that inactivates uracil-DNA glycosylase from diverse organisms. The secondary structure of Ugi consists of five anti-parallel β-strands and two α-helices (Balasubramanian, S., Beger, R. D., Bennett, S. E., Mosbaugh, D. W., and Bolton, P. H. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 296-303). The tertiary structure of Ugi has been determined by solution state multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance. The Ugi structure contains an area of highly negative electrostatic potential produced by the close proximity of a number of acidic residues. The unfavorable interactions between these acidic residues are apparently accommodated by the stability of the β-strands. This negatively charged region is likely to play an important role in the binding of Ugi to uracil- DNA glycosylase.