Structure-Function Relationships in Polymerases

My talk today will focus on DNA polymerases, starting with a brief overview of the topics to be covered. First I will review how protein sequence analysis may be used to identify and cluster various DNA polymerase families. Next I will describe the crystal structure of a template-independent DNA polymerase that was recently solved in our laboratory. Then I will discuss the open/closed conformational transition in DNA polymerases, a feature common to all polymerase families. To do this I will rely on a simplified version of normal mode analysis. If time allows, I will discuss the role of electrostatics in the active site, where there are metal ions and charged substrate molecules...