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Bloom's syndrome (BS) is a genetic disorder associated with short stature, fertility defects, and a predisposition to the development of cancer. BS cells are characterized by genomic instability; in particular, a high rate of reciprocal exchanges between sister-chromatids and homologous chromosomes. The BS gene product, BLM, is a helicase belonging to the highly conserved RecQ family. BLM is known to form a complex with the RAD51 recombinase, and to act upon DNA intermediates that form during homologous recombination, including D-loops and Holliday junctions. Here, we show that BLM also makes a direct physical association with the RAD51L3 protein (also known as RAD51D), a so-called RAD51 paralog that shows limited sequence similarity to RAD51 itself. This interaction is mediated through the N-terminal domain of BLM. To analyze functional interactions between BLM and RAD51L3, we have purified a heteromeric complex comprising RAD51L3 and a second RAD51 paralog, XRCC2. We show that the RAD51L3-XRCC2 complex stimulates BLM to disrupt synthetic 4-way junctions that model the Holliday junction. We also show that a truncated form of BLM, which retains helicase activity but is unable to bind RAD51L3, is not stimulated by the RAD51L3-XRCC2 complex. Our data indicate that the activity of BLM is modulated through an interaction with the RAD51L3-XRCC2 complex, and that this stimulatory effect on BLM is dependent upon a direct physical association between the BLM and RAD51L3 proteins. We propose that BLM co-operates with RAD51 paralogs during the late stages of homologous recombination processes that serve to restore productive DNA replication at sites of damaged or stalled replication forks.

Original publication

DOI

10.1074/jbc.M308838200

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Biol Chem

Publication Date

28/11/2003

Volume

278

Pages

48357 - 48366

Keywords

Adenosine Triphosphatases, Blotting, Western, Cell Line, Cytoplasm, DNA, DNA Helicases, DNA, Complementary, DNA-Binding Proteins, Glutathione Transferase, HeLa Cells, Humans, Models, Biological, Models, Genetic, Oligonucleotides, Precipitin Tests, Protein Binding, Protein Structure, Tertiary, Rad51 Recombinase, RecQ Helicases, Recombination, Genetic, Sister Chromatid Exchange, Time Factors, Two-Hybrid System Techniques