Structural Insight into DNA-Dependent Activation of Human Metalloprotease Spartan (Cell Reports)

Li et al. determine the crystal structure of human Spartan bound to DNA. Spartan is a DNA-activated metalloprotease that cleaves DNA-protein crosslinks to preserve genome stability. Spartan mutations cause progeria and liver cancer in humans. The structure provides important insights into how DNA activates the protease activity of Spartan.