Activation of the apoptotic endonuclease DFF40 (caspase-activated DNase or nuclease). Oligomerization and direct interaction with histone H1

Xuesong Liu, Hua Zou, Piotr Widlak, William Garrard, Xiaodong Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

162 Scopus citations

Abstract

DNA fragmentation factor (DFF) is a heterodimeric protein composed of 45-kDa (DFF45) and 40-kDa (DFF40) subunits, a protein that mediates regulated DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation in response to apoptotic signals. DFF45 is a specific molecular chaperone and an inhibitor for the nuclease activity of DFF40. Previous studies have shown that upon cleavage of DFF45 by caspase-3, the nuclease activity of DFF40 is relieved of inhibition. Here we further investigate the mechanism of DFF40 activation. We demonstrate that DFF45 can also be cleaved and inactivated by caspase-7 but not by caspase-6 and caspase-8. The cleaved DFF45 fragments dissociate from DFF40, allowing DFF40 to oligomerize to form a large functional complex that cleaves DNA by introducing double strand breaks. Histone H1 directly interacts with DFF, confers DNA binding ability to DFF, and stimulates the nuclease activity of DFF40 by increasing its K(cat) and decreasing its K(m).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)13836-13840
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Biological Chemistry
Volume274
Issue number20
DOIs
StatePublished - May 14 1999

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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