Structural and mutational analysis of Escherichia coli AlkB provides insight into substrate specificity and DNA damage searching.
Holland, P.J., Hollis, T.(2010) PLoS One 5: e8680-e8680
- PubMed: 20084272 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0008680
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
3KHB, 3KHC - PubMed Abstract: 
In Escherichia coli, cytotoxic DNA methyl lesions on the N1 position of purines and N3 position of pyrimidines are primarily repaired by the 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG) iron(II) dependent dioxygenase, AlkB. AlkB repairs 1-methyladenine (1-meA) and 3-methylcytosine (3-meC) lesions, but it also repairs 1-methylguanine (1-meG) and 3-methylthymine (3-meT) at a much less efficient rate. How the AlkB enzyme is able to locate and identify methylated bases in ssDNA has remained an open question.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Biochemistry, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.