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The TFIIIA recognition fragment d(GGATGGGAG).d(CTCCCATCC) is B-form in solution.

The deoxyoligonucleotide d(GGATGGGAG).d(CTCCCATCC) is a portion of the gene recognition sequence of transcription factor IIIA (TFIIIA). The crystal structure of this oligonucleotide was shown to be A-form (Mc Call, M., Brown, T., Hunter, W.N., and Kennard, O. 1986 Nature 322, 661-664). The present study employs NMR, optical, chemical and enzymatic techniques to investigate the solution structure of this DNA 9-mer. NMR COSY experiments indicate 16 of the 18 residues are predominantly south (C2'-endo) sugar conformation. NMR NOESY indicates glycosidic angles in the range predicted for B-form DNA as opposed to A-form. Related DNA and RNA self-complementary 18-mer sequences, d(GGATGGGAGC-TCCCATCC), with U substituted for T in RNA, were studied by circular dichroism. CD spectra support B-form structures for the DNA 9-mer and the DNA 18-mer, and A-form for the RNA 18-mer. High trifluoroethanol concentrations induce a B- to A-form transition in the DNA oligonucleotides. Enzymatic and chemical probes also illustrate significant differences between the DNA and the RNA oligonucleotides. We find no evidence to support an A-form conformation for the TFIIIA recognition sequence d(GGATGGGAG).d(CTCCCATCC) in solution.

Binding Sites↗

Localization of hepatitis delta virus RNA in the nucleus of human cells.

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a human pathogen that can greatly increase the severity of liver damage caused by an hepatitis B infection. HDV contains a circular, single-stranded RNA genome that encodes a unique protein, the delta antigen. Two forms of the delta antigen, deltaAg-S and deltaAg-L, are derived from a single open reading frame by RNA editing. Here we analyze the subcellular distribution of HDV RNA and its spatial relationship to known intranuclear structures. The human hepatoma cell line Huh7 was stably transfected with wild-type HDV cDNA and the viral RNAs were localized by in situ hybridization and fluorescence confocal microscopy. HDV RNA is detected throughout the nucleoplasm, with additional concentration in focal structures closely associated with nuclear speckles or clusters of interchromatin granules. Both the smaller form of the delta antigen (deltaAg-S), which is required for HDV genomic replication, and the larger form of the delta antigen (deltaAg-L), which represses replication, co-localize with delta RNA throughout the nucleoplasm and in the foci. However, the foci do not incorporate bromo-UTP and do not concentrate either RNA polymerase II or cleavage and polyadenylation factors required for viral RNA synthesis and 3' end processing, respectively. Thus, it is unlikely that the delta foci represent major sites of viral transcription or replication. In conclusion, the data show that viral RNA-protein complexes accumulate in structures closely associated with interchromatin granules, a subnuclear domain highly enriched in small nuclear ribonucleoproteins, poly(A+) RNA, and RNA splicing protein factors. This implies a specific compartmentalization of ribonucleoproteins in the nucleus.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗

Helix structure and ends of RNA/DNA hybrids direct the cleavage specificity of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase RNase H.

RNA/DNA hybrids in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication are cleaved by HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) H in locations determined by hybrid structure. Minus strand DNA synthesis is accompanied by cleavage of template viral RNA directed by RT positioned at the growing 3' DNA end. Some RNA remains as oligomers annealed to the new DNA strand and is cut by RTs positioned at the 5' RNA ends. We constructed substrates to the test the hypothesis that internal helix structure, rather than strand end structure, drives the RT to position at 3' DNA and 5' RNA ends. On substrates with an RNA primer recessed on a DNA template, the 5' end of the RNA had a dominant role in the determination of RNase H cleavage positions. If the 5' end region of the RNA could not anneal, cleavage would not occur. Nevertheless, we obtained evidence that helix structure promotes the binding of RT to the end of the helical region closest to the 5' RNA/3' DNA end. When a DNA primer recessed on an RNA template had a 3' unannealed region, cleavage occurred, with RT positioned solely by helical structure at the 5' RNA/3' DNA end of the annealed region of the hybrid. Using substrates having RNA primers annealed to circular DNA templates, we showed that cleavage can be independent of the presence of a DNA 3'end and is directed by the 5' RNA end. Overall, the results suggest that the RT initially binds an internal region of the hybrid and then is driven in the direction to encounter a 3' DNA or 5' RNA end, where it is positioned for catalysts by the strand end. The requirement for two modes of RNA cleavage in viral replication and the unexpected requirement for the 5' RNA end structure are discussed.

Base Sequence↗

A three-dimensional model of hepatitis delta virus ribozyme based on biochemical and mutational analyses.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis delta virus (HDV), which has a single-stranded RNA genome about 1700 nucleotides long, is a satellite virus of hepatitis B, and is associated with a high incidence of fulminant hepatitis and death in infected humans. Like certain pathogenic subviral RNAs that infect plants, HDV RNA features a closed-circular conformation, a rolling-circle mechanism of replication and RNA-catalyzed self-cleaving reactions of both genomic and anti-genomic strands in vitro. The catalytic domains cannot be folded into either the hammerhead or hairpin secondary-structure motifs that have been found in other self-cleaving RNAs. RESULTS: A pseudoknot secondary-structure model has been suggested for the catalytic domain (ribozyme) of HDV RNA. We conducted extensive mutational analyses of regions of the HDV ribozyme predicted in this model to be single stranded, and found that several of them are important for catalytic activity. We used these data, sequence comparisons between different isolates and previously published structural analyses to produce a computer graphic model of the three-dimensional architecture of the HDV ribozyme. CONCLUSIONS: Our model supports the pseudoknotted structure and rationalizes several observations relating to the lengths of the various stems and the sequence requirements of the single-stranded regions. It also provides insight into the catalytic mechanism of the HDV ribozyme. We specifically propose that residues C75, U20 and C21 form the basis of the catalytic region and are close to the cleavable phosphate.

Base Sequence↗

Structural and thermodynamic characteristics of the binding of the lambda N protein to a RNA hairpin.

The specific binding of the lambda N protein to a 15 nucleotide RNA oligomer that forms a hairpin structure has been investigated by biophysical methods. Using fluorescence spectroscopy and equilibrium ultra-centrifugation, it was found that the N protein binds specifically to this RNA hairpin as a monomer. Circular dichroism experiments show that both the N protein and the RNA hairpin undergo structural change upon association of the complex.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

Structural properties and RNA-binding activities of two RNA recognition motifs of a mouse neural RNA-binding protein, mouse-Musashi-1.

mouse-Musashi-1 (m-Msi-1) is an RNA-binding protein, abundantly expressed in the developing mammalian central nervous system (CNS). m-Msi-1 contains two RNA recognition motifs (RRMs). In this study, we found that the N-terminal RRM of m-Msi-1 (MMA) binds strongly to poly(G) and weakly to poly(U) in a way similar to that of the full-length m-Msi-1 protein characterized previously. The C-terminal RRM of m-Msi-1 (MMB), however, does not bind to RNA. In addition, the circular dichroism (CD) spectra of the two RRMs showed that the alpha-helical content of MMA is significantly higher than that of MMB, indicating that some differences in the secondary structure may be responsible for the distinct RNA binding properties of MMA and MMB.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Transcript mapping and processing of mitochondrial RNA in Dictyostelium discoideum.

The circular mitochondrial genome of Dictyostelium discoideum has a size of 55,564 base pairs. We present here a complete and detailed transcription map of the mitochondrial DNA. Eight major, polycistronic transcripts encoding polypeptides, ribosomal RNAs and interspersed transfer RNAs were identified in Northern hybridization studies. Most of these polycistronic transcripts are subsequently processed into smaller mono-, di- or tricistronic RNAs. In some cases, the maturation involves endonucleolytic cleavage of the transcripts using transfer RNAs as excision signals. Primer extension experiments mapped the 5' ends of the transcripts, which may represent transcription initiation sites. Two of the polycistronic transcripts were found to be overlapping. Based on sequence alignments of the potential transcription start sites, a short oligonucleotide consensus initiation sequence has been identified which does not reveal any significant sequence homologies to known promoter regions from other organisms.

Animals↗

Fate of an intervening sequence ribonucleic acid: excision and cyclization of the Tetrahymena ribosomal ribonucleic acid intervening sequence in vivo.

In previous studies of RNA splicing in vitro, we have shown that the intervening sequence (IVS) of the Tetrahymena rRNA precursor is excised as a unique linear RNA molecule and subsequently cyclized. In the present work, we have investigated the occurrence and stability of these RNA species in vivo. RNA was separated by gel electrophoresis, transferred to diazotized paper, and hybridized with 32P-labeled DNA probes. RNA molecules containing the IVS were found to reside within the nucleus and not in the cytoplasm. The species found in nucleus include both the linear and circular forms of the excised IVS RNA, as well as the unspliced precursor. On the basis of quantitation of the hybridization, the half-lives of the IVS-containing pre-rRNA and the excised IVS RNA in rapidly growing cells were estimated as 2 and 6 s, respectively. We conclude that splicing is not a rate-limiting step in rRNA maturation and that the IVS RNA is quickly degraded after its excision. When the deproteinized nuclear RNA was incubated at 37 degrees C in a Mg2+-containing solution, a substantial portion of the linear IVS RNA was converted to the circular form. Autocyclization, previously characterized with IVS RNA produced by splicing in vitro, is therefore also a property of IVS RNA produced in vivo.

Animals↗

Hepatitis B virus replication.

Hepadnaviruses, including human hepatitis B virus (HBV), replicate through reverse transcription of an RNA intermediate, the pregenomic RNA (pgRNA). Despite this kinship to retroviruses, there are fundamental differences beyond the fact that hepadnavirions contain DNA instead of RNA. Most peculiar is the initiation of reverse transcription: it occurs by protein-priming, is strictly committed to using an RNA hairpin on the pgRNA, epsilon, as template, and depends on cellular chaperones; moreover, proper replication can apparently occur only in the specialized environment of intact nucleocapsids. This complexity has hampered an in-depth mechanistic understanding. The recent successful reconstitution in the test tube of active replication initiation complexes from purified components, for duck HBV (DHBV), now allows for the analysis of the biochemistry of hepadnaviral replication at the molecular level. Here we review the current state of knowledge at all steps of the hepadnaviral genome replication cycle, with emphasis on new insights that turned up by the use of such cell-free systems. At this time, they can, unfortunately, not be complemented by three-dimensional structural information on the involved components. However, at least for the epsilon RNA element such information is emerging, raising expectations that combining biophysics with biochemistry and genetics will soon provide a powerful integrated approach for solving the many outstanding questions. The ultimate, though most challenging goal, will be to visualize the hepadnaviral reverse transcriptase in the act of synthesizing DNA, which will also have strong implications for drug development.

Animals↗

A circular trans-acting hepatitis delta virus ribozyme.

A circular trans-acting ribozyme designed to adopt the motif of the hepatitis delta virus (HDV) trans-acting ribozyme was produced. The circular form was generated in vitro by splicing a modified group I intron precursor RNA in which the relative order of the 5' and 3' splice sites, flanking the single HDV-like ribozyme sequence-containing exon, is reversed. Trans-cleavage activity of the circular HDV-like ribozyme was comparable to linear permutations of HDV ribozymes containing the same core sequence, and was shown not to be due to linear contaminants in the circular ribozyme preparation. In nuclear and cytoplasmic extracts from HeLa cells, the circular ribozyme had enhanced resistance to nuclease degradation relative to a linear form of the ribozyme, suggesting that circularization may be a viable alternative to chemical modification as a means of stabilizing ribozymes against nuclease degradation.

Base Sequence↗

Antibiotic-induced oligomerisation of group I intron RNA.

Antibiotics act as inhibitors of various biological processes. Here we demonstrate that some tuberactinomycins, hitherto known as inhibitors of prokaryotic protein synthesis and of group I intron self-splicing, have a modulatory effect on group I intron RNAs. The linear intron, which is excised during the self-splicing process, is still an active molecular capable of performing an intramolecular transesterification resulting in a circular molecule. However, in the presence of sub-inhibitory concentrations of tuberactinomycins, the intron reacts intermolecularly leading to the formation of linear head-to-tail intron-oligomers. The antibiotic stimulates the intron to react in trans instead of in cis. The phage T4-derived td intron uses the same sites for oligomerisation as for circularisation. Gel- retardation experiments demonstrate that the intron RNA forms non-covalent complexes in the presence of the antibiotic. It might be envisaged that the role of these peptide antibiotics is to bridge RNA molecules mediating RNA-RNA interactions and thus enabling their reaction. The tuberactinomycins are further able to induce the interaction of heterologous introns. The ligation of the T4 phage-derived td intron with the Tetrahymena rRNA intron is very efficient, resulting in molecules composed of two introns derived from different species. The td intron attacks the Tetrahymena intron at various sites, which are located within double-stranded regions. These observations suggest that small molecules like these basic peptide antibiotics could have mediated RNA-RNA interactions in a pre-protein era.

Animals↗

Targeting of single-stranded DNA and RNA containing adjacent pyrimidine and purine tracts by triple helix formation with circular and clamp oligonucleotides.

The aim of this work was to construct an anti-messenger targeted to the pim-1 oncogene transcript, based on circular or clamp oligodeoxyribonucleotides. The formation of bimolecular triplexes by clamp or circular oligonucleotides was investigated using single-stranded targets of both DNA (5'-CCCTCCTTTGAAGAA-3') and RNA type (5'-CCCUCCUUUGAAGAA-3'). The third, 'Hoogsteen' strand of the triplex was represented by G,T-rich sequences. The secondary structures of the complexes were determined by thermal denaturation, circular dichroism and gel mobility shift experiments and shown to depend on the nature of the target strand. With DNA as target, the sequence of a clamp (or circular) oligonucleotide that formed the triple helix was 3'-GGGAGGAAACTTCTTTT-TTGTTGTTT-TT-GGTGGG-5', where the first TT dinucleotide (in italics) is a linker and the second TT (bold) represents the bridge through which the 'Hoogsteen' strand switches from one strand of the Watson-Crick duplex to the other, once the duplex is formed by the corresponding portion of the anti-messenger (underlined). The portion of the 'Hoogsteen' sequence of the triplex between the two TT dinucleotides binds to the 3' extremity of the target strand and runs parallel to it. The portion situated at the 5' end of the oligonucleotide switches to the purine tract of the complementary strand of the duplex and is antiparallel to it. In contrast, with RNA as target, for a branched clamp oligonucleotide that formed a triple helix over its entire length (5'-TTCTTCAAAGGAGGG-3' 3'-GGGTGGTTT-T-GTTGTT-5') the portion of the 'Hoogsteen' sequence that bound to the 3' extremity of the target strand had to be antiparallel to it.

Circular Dichroism↗

5' cloverleaf in poliovirus RNA is a cis-acting replication element required for negative-strand synthesis.

A cloverleaf structure at the 5' terminus of poliovirus RNA binds viral and cellular proteins. To examine the role of the cloverleaf in poliovirus replication, we determined how cloverleaf mutations affected the stability, translation and replication of poliovirus RNA in HeLa S10 translation-replication reactions. Mutations within the cloverleaf destabilized viral RNA in these reactions. Adding a 5' 7-methyl guanosine cap fully restored the stability of the mutant RNAs and had no effect on their translation. These results indicate that the 5' cloverleaf normally protects uncapped poliovirus RNA from rapid degradation by cellular nucleases. Preinitiation RNA replication complexes formed with the capped mutant RNAs were used to measure negative-strand synthesis. Although the mutant RNAs were stable and functional mRNAs, they were not active templates for negative-strand RNA synthesis. Therefore, the 5' cloverleaf is a multifunctional cis-acting replication element required for the initiation of negative-strand RNA synthesis. We propose a replication model in which the 5' and 3' ends of viral RNA interact to form a circular ribonucleoprotein complex that regulates the stability, translation and replication of poliovirus RNA.

Base Sequence↗

Physical studies of 5S RNA variants at position 66.

Two variants of the 5S RNA of E. coli have been examined by imino proton NMR spectroscopy, one of them a deletion of A66 (Christiansen, J., Douthwaite, S.R., Christensen, A. and Garrett, R.A. (1985) EMBO J. 4, 1019-1024) and the other a replacement of A66 with a C (Goringer, H.U. and Wagner, R. (1986) Biol. Chem. Hoppe-Seyler 367, 769-780). Both are of interest because the role the bulged A in helix II of 5S RNA is supposed to play in interactions with ribosomal protein L18. The data show that the structural perturbations that result from these mutations are minimal, and assign the resonances of some of the imino protons around position 66. Some mutations at or near position 66 greatly reduce the L18-dependent increase in the circular dichroism of 5S RNA at 267 nm first observed by Bear and coworkers (Bear, D.G., Schleich, T., Noller, H.F. and Garrett, R.A. (1977) Nucl. Acids Res. 4, 2511-2526).

Base Sequence↗

Evidence for unfolding of the single-stranded GCCA 3'-End of a tRNA on its aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase from a stacked helical to a foldback conformation.

The conformation of a tRNA in its initial contact with its cognate aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase was investigated with the Escherichia coli glutamyl-tRNA synthetase-tRNA(Glu) complex. Covalent complexes between the periodate-oxidized tRNA(Glu) and its synthetase were obtained. These complexes are specific since none were formed with any other oxidized E. coli tRNA. The three major residues cross-linked to the 3'-terminal adenosine of oxidized tRNA(Glu) are Lys115, Arg209, and Arg48. Modeling of the tRNA(Glu)-glutamyl-tRNA synthetase based on the known crystal structures of Thermus thermophilus GluRS and of the E. coli tRNA(Gln)-glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase complex shows that these three residues are located in the pocket that binds the acceptor stem, and that Lys115, located in a 26 residue loop closed by coordination to a zinc atom in the tRNA acceptor stem-binding domain, is the first contact point of the 3'-terminal adenosine of tRNA(Glu). In our model, we assume that the 3'-terminal GCCA single-stranded segment of tRNA(Glu) is helical and extends the stacking of the acceptor stem. This assumption is supported by the fact that the 3' CCA sequence of tRNA(Glu) is not readily circularized in the presence of T4 RNA ligase under conditions where several other tRNAs are circularized. The two other cross-linked sites are interpreted as the contact sites of the 3'-terminal ribose on the enzyme during the unfolding and movement of the 3'-terminal GCCA segment to position the acceptor ribose in the catalytic site for aminoacylation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Products of reverse transcription in avian retrovirus analyzed by electron microscopy.

DNA products synthesized in avian retroviral particles permeabilized with melittin have been analyzed in an electron microscope. These studies have provided further insight and subsequent refinement in the melittin activation techniques. Our electron microscope analyses verify the existence of the plus-strand single-stranded DNA branches, presumed to originate by strand-displacement synthesis (L. R. Boone and A. M. Skalka, J. Virol. 37:117-126, 1981). The branches occur at many locations along the DNA molecules and are observed at very early times, even before the minus-strand copies of the RNA genome are completed. Circular forms of different derivations are observed at early and at late times, which are possible intermediates in viral replication. Novel forms termed H structures are also described. In addition to the identification of possible intermediates, these analyses have provided further information on the sequence of events in retroviral reverse transcription. These new data are combined with previous results to generate a model of reverse transcription which incorporates strand-displacement synthesis as an essential feature.

Avian Leukosis Virus↗

Footprinting and circular dichroism studies on paromomycin binding to the packaging region of human immunodeficiency virus type-1.

We have studied the interaction of the aminoglycoside drug, paromomycin, with a 171-mer from the packaging region of HIV-1 (psi-RNA), using quantitative footprinting and circular dichroism spectroscopy. The footprinting autoradiographic data were obtained by cutting end-labeled RNA with RNase I or RNase T1 in the presence of varying paromomycin concentrations. Scanning the autoradiograms produced footprinting plots showing cleavage intensities for specific sites on the psi-RNA as functions of drug concentration. Footprinting plots showing binding were analyzed using a two-state model to give apparent binding constants for specific sites of the psi-RNA. These plots show that the highest-affinity paromomycin binding site involves nucleotides near bulges in the main stem and SL-1, and other nucleotides in SL-4 of the psi-RNA. RNase I gives an apparent value of K for this drug site of approximately 1.7 x 10(5) M(-1) while RNase T1 reports a value of K of approximately 8 x 10(4) M(-1) (10 mM Tris HCl, pH 7). Footprinting shows that loading the highest affinity site with paromomycin causes structural changes in the single-stranded linker regions, between the stem-loops and main stem and the loops of SL-1 and SL-3. Drug-induced structural changes also affect the intensity of the 208 nm band in the circular dichroism spectrum of the psi-RNA. Fitting the changes in CD band intensity to a two-state model yielded a binding constant for the highest-affinity drug site of 6 x 10(6) M(-1). Thus, the binding constants from footprinting are lower than those obtained for the highest-affinity site from the circular dichroism spectrum, and lower than those earlier obtained using absorption spectroscopy (Sullivan, J. M.; Goodisman, J.; Dabrowiak, J. C., Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2002, 12, 615). The discrepancy may be due to competitive binding between drug and cleavage agent in the footprinting experiments, but other explanations are discussed. In addition to revealing sites of binding and regions of drug-induced structural change, footprinting showed that the loop regions of SL-1, SL-3 and SL-4 are exposed in the RNA, whereas the linker region between SL-1 and SL-2 is 'buried' and not accessible to cutting by RNase I or RNase T1.

Algorithms↗