Type II DNA topoisomerases catalyse changes in DNA topology in reactions coupled to the hydrolysis of ATP. In the case of DNA gyrase, which can introduce supercoils into DNA, the requirement for free energy is clear. However, the non-supercoiling type II enzymes carry out reactions that are apparently energetically favourable, so their requirement for ATP hydrolysis is not so obvious. It has been shown that many of these enzymes (the type IIA family) can simplify the topology of their DNA substrates to a level beyond that expected at equilibrium. Although this seems to explain their usage of ATP, we show that the free energies involved in topology simplification are very small (<0.2% of that available from ATP) and we argue that topology simplification may simply be an evolutionary relic.
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April 2010
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Conference Article|
March 22 2010
The role of ATP in the reactions of type II DNA topoisomerases
Andrew D. Bates;
Andrew D. Bates
1
*School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email bates@liv.ac.uk).
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Anthony Maxwell
Anthony Maxwell
†Department of Biological Chemistry, John Innes Centre, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UH, U.K.
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
July 10 2009
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2010 Biochemical Society
2010
Biochem Soc Trans (2010) 38 (2): 438–442.
Article history
Received:
July 10 2009
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Andrew D. Bates, Anthony Maxwell; The role of ATP in the reactions of type II DNA topoisomerases. Biochem Soc Trans 1 April 2010; 38 (2): 438–442. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0380438
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