Structural Basis for Telomerase RNA Recognition and RNP Assembly by the Holoenzyme La Family Protein p65

Journal Article · Sun Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · Mol. Cell

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2012.05.018· OSTI ID:1046853

Singh, Mahavir; Wang, Zhonghua; Koo, Bon-Kyung; Patel, Anooj; Cascio, Duilio; Collins, Kathleen; Feigon, Juli ^[1]

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1. UCLA

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex essential for maintenance of telomere DNA at linear chromosome ends. The catalytic core of Tetrahymena telomerase comprises a ternary complex of telomerase RNA (TER), telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), and the essential La family protein p65. NMR and crystal structures of p65 C-terminal domain and its complex with stem IV of TER reveal that RNA recognition is achieved by a combination of single- and double-stranded RNA binding, which induces a 105{sup o} bend in TER. The domain is a cryptic, atypical RNA recognition motif with a disordered C-terminal extension that forms an {alpha} helix in the complex necessary for hierarchical assembly of TERT with p65-TER. This work provides the first structural insight into biogenesis and assembly of TER with a telomerase-specific protein. Additionally, our studies define a structurally homologous domain (xRRM) in genuine La and LARP7 proteins and suggest a general mode of RNA binding for biogenesis of their diverse RNA targets.

• Research Organization: Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• OSTI ID: 1046853
• Journal Information: Mol. Cell, Journal Name: Mol. Cell Journal Issue: (1) ; 07, 2012 Vol. 47
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: ENGLISH