NMR Study of the pH Effect on the DNA Binding Affinity of Human RPA

The replication protein A (RPA) plays a crucial role in DNA replication, recombination, and repair. RPA consists of 70, 32 and 14 kDa subunits and has high single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding affinity. The largest subunit, RPA70, mainly contributes to bind to ssDNA as well as interact with many cellular and viral proteins. In this study, we performed nuclear magnetic resonance experiments on the complex of the DNA binding domain A of human RPA70 (RPA70A) with ssDNA, d(CCCCC), at various pH, to understand the effect of pH on the ssDNA binding of RPA70A. The chemical shift perturbations of binding residues were most significant at pH 6.5 and they reduced with pH increment. This study provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanism of the ssDNA binding of human RPA.