Domain substructure of HPV E6 oncoprotein: biophysical characterization of the E6 C-terminal DNA-binding domain
Overview of Nominé Y et al.
Authors | Nominé Y  Charbonnier S  Ristriani T  Stier G  Masson M  Cavusoglu N  Van Dorsselaer A  Weiss E  Kieffer B  Travé G   |
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Affiliation | Laboratoire d'Immunotechnologie   UMR CNRS 7100   Ecole Supérieure de Biotechnologie de Strasbourg   67400 Illkirch   France.   |
Journal | Biochemistry |
Year | 2003 |
Abstract
E6 is a viral oncoprotein implicated in cervical cancers, produced by high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs). Structural data concerning this protein are scarce due to the difficulty of producing recombinant E6. Recently, we described the expression and purification of a stable, folded, and biologically active HPV16 E6 mutant called E6 6C/6S. Here, we analyzed the domain substructure of this mutated E6. Nonspecific proteolysis of full-length E6 6C/6S (158 residues) yielded N-terminal and C-terminal fragments encompassing residues 7-83 and 87-158, respectively. The C-terminal fragment of residues 87-158 was cloned, overexpressed, and purified at concentrations as high as 1 mM. The purified domain retains the selective four-way DNA junction recognition activity of the full-length E6 protein. Using UV absorption, UV fluorescence, circular dichroism, and nuclear magnetic resonance, we show that the peptide is primarily monomeric and folded with equal proportions of alpha-helix and beta-sheet secondary structure.