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The Pore-Forming Properties of SsoHel308 Helicase from Saccharolobus solfataricus

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Abstract

The pore-forming activity of SsoHel308 helicase from extreme thermophilic archaea Saccharolobus solfataricus has been demonstrated for the first time. This protein embedded in rabbit erythrocyte membranes may cause erythrocyte hemolysis. It has been shown that this enzyme forms pores in a planar artificial bilayer membrane and acts as a transformer. After embedding this enzyme into biolayer lipid membranes, the membrane conductivity is altered. Taken together, our results show that SsoHel308 helicase is able to form pores in artificial bilayer membranes and, in some cases, the current that flows across the membranes shares features typical of ion channels. The short lifetime of the pores in the membrane significantly reduces the toxicity of helicase for a living cell. The possibility of directed translocation of single-stranded DNA in the presence of ATP will enable the use of this enzyme as a molecular syringe for injecting single-stranded DNA into living cells.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to S.V. Tishchenko for providing the genomic DNA of Saccharolobus solfataricus. Mass spectrometry was performed at the Structural and Functional Studies of Proteins and RNA Common Use Center (Institute of Protein, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pu-shchino, Moscow oblast, Russia).

Funding

This work was carried out with financial support of Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (grant № RFMEFI60419X0218).

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Correspondence to A. S. Solonin.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies involving animals or human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Translated by E. Makeeva

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Siunov, A.V., Borisova, M.P., Andreeva-Kovalevskaya, Z.I. et al. The Pore-Forming Properties of SsoHel308 Helicase from Saccharolobus solfataricus . BIOPHYSICS 65, 894–899 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0006350920060184

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0006350920060184

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