![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||||||||
![]() |
|||||||||||
DNA Photolyase (DNAP) is a very important enzyme, because it is responsible for fixing the thymine dimers in DNA that can form when exposed to UV light: |
|||||||||||
DNA photolyase selectively binds to the damaged part of DNA, and by absorbing lower energy visible light it can reverse the binding of the two thymines. This photolyase in particular is from the bacterium Escherichia coli, which uses a second cofactor to harvest blue light called 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolylpolyglutamate (MTHF). MTHF in turn uses its energy to excite FAD. The excited FAD then transfers an electron to split the dimer. DNA photolyase has a molecule of MTHF and a molecule of FAD. Below you can see some different aspects of this enzyme. |
|||||||||||
Get DNAP from PDB | |||||||||||
![]() |
|||||||||||
Take a tour of DNAP's active site | |||||||||||
![]() |
|||||||||||