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The crystal structures of protein–nucleic acid complexes are commonly determined using selenium-derivatized proteins via MAD or SAD phasing. Here, the first protein–nucleic acid complex structure determined using selenium-derivatized nucleic acids is reported. The RNase H–RNA/DNA complex is used as an example to demonstrate the proof of principle. The high-resolution crystal structure indicates that this selenium replacement results in a local subtle unwinding of the RNA/DNA substrate duplex, thereby shifting the RNA scissile phosphate closer to the transition state of the enzyme-catalyzed reaction. It was also observed that the scissile phosphate forms a hydrogen bond to the water nucleophile and helps to position the water molecule in the structure. Consistently, it was discovered that the substitution of a single O atom by a Se atom in a guide DNA sequence can largely accelerate RNase H catalysis. These structural and catalytic studies shed new light on the guide-dependent RNA cleavage.

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Portable Document Format (PDF) file https://doi.org/10.1107/S1399004713027922/cb5033sup1.pdf
Supporting information

PDB reference: RNase H–RNA/DNA complex, 3twh


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