Speaker: Sang-Hyuk Lee

Rutgers University
Piscataway, NJ


Title: Single-molecule study of DNA bending by mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM)


Abstract: Mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) protein plays a crucial role in the initiation of mitochondrial transcription complex. TFAM binds to two specific mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences (called LSP and  HSP) that are located close to the promoter sites, and bends DNA by almost 180 degrees to recruit mitochondrial RNA polymerase (POLRMT). TFAM also binds and bends DNA of arbitrary sequences and this nonspecific interaction with DNA results in packaging of mtDNA into the compact nucleoid. It is not well understood why only the specific DNA sequences lead to successful initiation of transcription complex. In this talk, I will present our recent data on the DNA-TFAM interaction from using single-molecule FRET assays and the implication in mitochondrial transcription and mtDNA packaging.