Journal of Biological Chemistry
Volume 271, Issue 44, 1 November 1996, Pages 27765-27769
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Nucleic Acids, Protein Synthesis, and Molecular Genetics
HDF2, the Second Subunit of the Ku Homologue from Saccharomyces cerevisiae *

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The high affinity DNA binding factor (HDF) protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is composed of two subunits and specifically binds ends of double-stranded DNA. The 70-kDa subunit, HDF1, shows significant homology with the 70-kDa subunit of the human Ku protein. Like the Ku protein, HDF1 has been shown to be involved in recombination and double stranded DNA break repair. We have purified and cloned HDF2, the second subunit of the HDF protein. The amino acid sequence of HDF2 shows a 45.6% homology with the 80-kDa subunit of the Ku protein. HDF1 by itself does not bind DNA, while HDF2 protein on its own seems to displays DNA binding activity. Targeted disruption of the HDF2 gene causes a temperature-sensitive phenotype for growth comparable to the phenotype of hdf1 strains. The human Ku protein cannot complement this temperature-sensitive phenotype. hdf2 strains are sensitive to bleomycin and methyl methanesulfonate, but this sensitivity is reduced in comparison with hdf1 strains.

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This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Grant Fa 138/6-7. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. The article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.