Transposase Team Puts a Headlock on DNA

摘要

Transposable DNA elements (trans-posons) populate the genomes of numerous organisms, from bacteria to humans. These genetic elements "jump" from old to new DNA locations, a process that mutates genes, rearranges chromosomes, and transmits genetic information between cells. Transposons, along with their retroviral cousins (for example, HIV), relocate through a common set of DNA cleavage and joining reactions. The proteins catalyzing these reactions (transposases and integrases, respectively) are encoded in the DNA of the mobile element and share structurally related catalytic regions. How do these proteins cleave both ends of the linear element (which may be far apart) and then join them to a new, distant DNA site? The first structure of a trans-posase-DNA complex, described by Davies et al. (3) on page 77 of this issue, begins to reveal the molecular details of this process.