Abstract Werner syndrome helicase (WRN) plays important roles in multiple pathways of DNA repair and the maintenance of genome integrity. Recently, loss of WRN was identified as a strong synthetic lethal interaction for microsatellite instable (MSI) cancers making WRN a promising drug target. Yet, structural information for the helicase domain is lacking, which prevents structure-based design of drug molecules. In this study, we show that ATP binding and hydrolysis in the helicase domain are required for genome integrity and viability of MSI cancer cells. We then determined the crystal structure of an ADP bound form of the WRN helicase core at 2.2 Å resolution. The structure features an atypical mode of nucleotide binding with extensive contacts formed by motif VI, which in turn defines the relative positioning of the two RecA like domains. The structure features a novel additional β-hairpin in the second RecA and an unusual helical hairpin in the Zn2+ binding domain, and modelling DNA substrates based on existing RecQ DNA complexes suggests roles for these features in the binding of alternative DNA structures. We have further analysed possible interfaces formed from the interactions between the HRDC domain and the helicase core by NMR. Together, this study will facilitate the structure-based design of inhibitors against WRN helicase.

Crystal Structure of the Werner’s Syndrome Helicase