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Title: Structure of a functional ribonucleoprotein pseudouridine synthase bound to a substrate RNA

Journal Article · · Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol.
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.1624· OSTI ID:1005888

Box H/ACA small nucleolar and Cajal body ribonucleoprotein particles comprise the most complex pseudouridine synthases and are essential for ribosome and spliceosome maturation. The multistep and multicomponent-mediated enzyme mechanism remains only partially understood. Here we report a crystal structure at 2.35 {angstrom} of a substrate-bound functional archaeal enzyme containing three of the four proteins, Cbf5, Nop10 and L7Ae, and a box H/ACA RNA that reveals detailed information about the protein-only active site. The substrate RNA, containing 5-fluorouridine at the modification position, is fully docked and catalytically rearranged by the enzyme in a manner similar to that seen in two stand-alone pseudouridine synthases. Structural analysis provides a mechanism for plasticity in the diversity of guide RNA sequences used and identifies a substrate-anchoring loop of Cbf5 that also interacts with Gar1 in unliganded structures. Activity analyses of mutated proteins and RNAs support the structural findings and further suggest a role of the Cbf5 loop in regulation of enzyme activity.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
1005888
Journal Information:
Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol., Vol. 16, Issue (7) ; 07, 2009; ISSN 1545-9993
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH