The field of small self-cleaving nucleolytic ribozymes has been invigorated by the recent discovery of the twister, twister-sister, pistol and hatchet ribozymes. We report on the crystal structure of the env25 pistol ribozyme, which adopts a compact tertiary architecture stabilized by an embedded pseudoknot fold. The G-U cleavage site adopts a splayed-apart conformation with in-line alignment of the modeled 2′-O of G for attack on the adjacent to-be-cleaved P-O5′ bond. Highly conserved residues G40 (N1 position) and A32 (N3 and 2′-OH positions) are aligned to act as general base and general acid respectively to accelerate cleavage chemistry, with their roles confirmed from cleavage assays on mutants, and an increased pKa of 4.7 for A32. Our structure of the pistol ribozyme defines how the overall and local topologies dictate the in-line alignment at the G-U cleavage site, with cleavage assays on mutants identifying key residues participating in acid-base catalyzed cleavage chemistry.

In this work an improved stable isotope labeling protocol for nucleic acids is introduced. The novel building blocks eliminate/minimize homonuclear 13C and 1H scalar couplings thus allowing proton relaxation dispersion (RD) experiments to report accurately on the chemical exchange of nucleic acids. Using site‐specific 2H and 13C labeling, spin topologies are introduced into DNA and RNA that make 1H relaxation dispersion experiments applicable in a straightforward manner. The novel RNA/DNA building blocks were successfully incorporated into two nucleic acids. The A‐site RNA was previously shown to undergo a two site exchange process in the micro‐ to millisecond time regime. Using proton relaxation dispersion experiments the exchange parameters determined earlier could be recapitulated, thus validating the proposed approach. We further investigated the dynamics of the cTAR DNA, a DNA transcript that is involved in the viral replication cycle of HIV‐1. Again, an exchange process could be characterized and quantified. This shows the general applicablility of the novel labeling scheme for 1H RD experiments of nucleic acids.

Ensuring the correct folding of RNA molecules in the cell is of major importance for a large variety of biological functions. Therefore, chaperone proteins that assist RNA in adopting their functionally active states are abundant in all living organisms. An important feature of RNA chaperone proteins is that they do not require an external energy source to perform their activity, and that they interact transiently and non-specifically with their RNA targets. So far, little is known about the mechanistic details of the RNA chaperone activity of these proteins. Prominent examples of RNA chaperones are bacterial cold shock proteins (Csp) that have been reported to bind single-stranded RNA and DNA. Here, we have used advanced NMR spectroscopy techniques to investigate at atomic resolution the RNA-melting activity of CspA, the major cold shock protein of Escherichia coli, upon binding to different RNA hairpins. Real-time NMR provides detailed information on the folding kinetics and folding pathways. Finally, comparison of wild-type CspA with single-point mutants and small peptides yields insights into the complementary roles of aromatic and positively charged amino-acid side chains for the RNA chaperone activity of the protein.

S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is a central metabolite since it is used as a methyl group donor in many different biochemical reactions. Many bacteria control intracellular SAM concentrations using riboswitch-based mechanisms. A number of structurally different riboswitch families specifically bind to SAM and mainly regulate the transcription or the translation of SAM-biosynthetic enzymes. In addition, a highly specific riboswitch class recognizes S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH)—the product of SAM-dependent methyl group transfer reactions—and regulates enzymes responsible for SAH hydrolysis. High-resolution structures are available for many of these riboswitch classes and illustrate how they discriminate between the two structurally similar ligands SAM and SAH. The so-called SAM/SAH riboswitch class binds both ligands with similar affinities and is structurally not yet characterized. Here, we present a high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance structure of a member of the SAM/SAH-riboswitch class in complex with SAH. Ligand binding induces pseudoknot formation and sequestration of the ribosome binding site. Thus, the SAM/SAH-riboswitches are translational ‘OFF’-switches. Our results establish a structural basis for the unusual bispecificity of this riboswitch class. In conjunction with genomic data our structure suggests that the SAM/SAH-riboswitches might be an evolutionary late invention and not a remnant of a primordial RNA-world as suggested for other riboswitches.

The precise interplay between the mRNA codon and the tRNA anticodon is crucial for ensuring efficient and accurate translation by the ribosome. The insertion of RNA nucleobase derivatives in the mRNA allowed us to modulate the stability of the codon-anticodon interaction in the decoding site of bacterial and eukaryotic ribosomes, allowing an in-depth analysis of codon recognition. We found the hydrogen bond between the N1 of purines and the N3 of pyrimidines to be sufficient for decoding of the first two codon nucleotides, whereas adequate stacking between the RNA bases is critical at the wobble position. Inosine, found in eukaryotic mRNAs, is an important example of destabilization of the codon-anticodon interaction. Whereas single inosines are efficiently translated, multiple inosines, e.g., in the serotonin receptor 5-HT2C mRNA, inhibit translation. Thus, our results indicate that despite the robustness of the decoding process, its tolerance toward the weakening of codon-anticodon interactions is limited.