1998•Protein ScienceOpen access
Comparisons between the structures of HCV and Rep helicases reveal structural similarities between SF1 and SF2 super‐families of helicases
Sergey Korolev, Timothy M. Lohman, Gabriel Waksman, Nanhua Yao, Patricia C Weber
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Abstract
Three helicase structures have been determined recently: that of the DNA helicase PcrA, that of the hepatitis C virus RNA helicase, and that of the Escherichia coli DNA helicase Rep. PcrA and Rep belong to the same super-family of helicases (SF1) and are structurally very similar. In contrast, the HCV helicase belongs to a different super-family of helicases, SF2, and shows little sequence homology with the PcrA/Rep helicases. Yet, the HCV helicase is structurally similar to Rep/PcrA, suggesting preservation of structural scaffolds and relationships between helicase motifs across these two super-families. The comparison study presented here also reveals the existence of a new helicase motif in the SF1 family of helicases.
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