Another Heritage from the RNA World: Self-Excision of Intron Sequences from Nuclear Pre-tRNAs

Weber, Ute; Beier, Hildburg; Groß, H.

doi:10.1093/nar/24.12.2212

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Previously we have shown that a human intron‐containing tRNA Tyr precursor transcribed in vitro in HeLa cell nuclear extract [16] and an A. thaliana pre‐tRNA Tyr transcript (AtY3II*‐T7) generated in vitro by T7 RNA polymerase [17] possess self‐cleavage activity. Both pre‐tRNAs undergo self‐cleavage at the authentic 3′‐splice site and near the authentic 5′‐splice site.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Self‐cleaving sequences, which do not resemble either of the motifs mentioned above, have been found in a precursor of an RNA from T4‐infected Escherichia coli cells, i.e. p2Sp1 RNA [15], in human pre‐tRNA Tyr transcribed in vitro in HeLa cell nuclear extract [16] as well as in an in vitro transcribed pre‐tRNA Tyr from Arabidopsis thaliana [17]. Here we show that a mini‐substrate derived from the Arabidopsis pre‐tRNA Tyr consisting of the anticodon stem including the intron and lacking the rest of the mature tRNA domain also undergoes highly specific self‐cleavage at identical positions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Enhancement of RNA self‐cleavage by micellar catalysis

Riepe¹,

Beier²,

Groß³

1999

FEBS Letters

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It has been reported recently that naturally occurring catalytic RNAs like hammerhead and hairpin ribozyme do not require metal ions for efficient catalysis. It seems that the folded tertiary structure of the RNA contributes more to the catalytic function than was initially recognized. We found that a highly specific self-cleavage reaction can occur within a small bulge loop of four nucleotides in a mini-substrate derived from Arabidopsis thaliana intron-containing pre-tRNA Tyr in the absence of metal ions. NH 4 + cations and non-ionic or zwitter-ionic detergents at or above their critical micelle concentration are sufficient to catalyze this reaction. The dependence on micelles for the reaction leads to the assumption that physical properties, i.e. the hydrophobic interior of a micelle, are essential for this selfcleavage reaction. We suggest that NH 4 + -ions play a crucial role for the entry of the negatively charged RNA into the hydrophobic interior of a detergent micelle. A change of the pattern of hydration or hydrogen bonds caused by the hydrophobic surrounding enhances the reaction by a factor of 100. These findings suggest that highly structured RNAs may shift pK a values towards neutrality via the local environment and thereby enhance their ability to perform general acid-base catalysis without the participation of metal ions.z 1999 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancement of RNA self‐cleavage by micellar catalysis

Riepe¹,

Beier²,

Groß³

1999

FEBS Letters

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“…Group I self-cleaving introns, group II self-cleaving introns and mRNA splicing mediated by the spliceosome are all known to involve an RNA catalyst [18]. There is also evidence suggesting that the small tRNA introns were once self-cleaving [19]. Thus, from a comparison of reaction pathways and catalytic mechanisms, investigation of the proteincatalyzed splicing mechanism provides an important parallel view to mechanisms catalyzed by RNA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

RNA-splicing endonuclease structure and function

Calvin

2008

Cell. Mol. Life Sci.

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The RNA-splicing endonuclease is an evolutionarily conserved enzyme responsible for the excision of introns from nuclear transfer RNA (tRNA) and all archaeal RNAs. Since its first identification from yeast in the late 1970s, significant progress has been made toward understanding the biochemical mechanisms of this enzyme. Four families of the splicing endonucleases possessing the same active sites and overall architecture but with different subunit compositions have been identified. Two related consensus structures of the precursor RNA splice sites and the critical elements required for intron excision have been established. More recently, a glimpse was obtained of the structural mechanism by which the endonuclease recognizes the consensus RNA structures and cleaves at the splice sites. This review summarizes these findings and discusses their implications in the evolution of intron removal processes.

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“…Examples include self-cleavage activities of pre-tRNA molecules from HeLa cells (van Tol et al 1989) and Arabidopsis thaliana (Weber et al 1996). These reactions lead to self-excisions of introns.…”

Section: Self-excision Of Intron Sequences From Pre-trnasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is tRNA only a translation factor or also a regulator of other processes?

Węgrzyn

2008

J Appl Genet

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tRNA has been discovered as a factor playing a central role in the translation of genetic information (encoded in DNA and transcribed to mRNA) into amino acid sequences of proteins. However, subsequent studies led to the hypothesis that during evolution, tRNA originated in replication, not translation. Indeed, there are many examples of tRNA-like molecules playing roles in reactions other than translation, including replication of various replicons. In this review, we have focused on functions of tRNA molecules (not tRNA-like structures) outside of their direct roles in translation as factors for a passive transportation of amino acids into a ribosome and deciphering triplets of nucleotides in codons of mRNA. Interestingly, it appears that such tRNA-dependent reactions are effective only when tRNA is uncharged. The most spectacular examples come from bacterial cells and include induction of the stringent control, regulation of transcription of some operons, and control of replication of ColE1-type plasmids. Recent studies indicated that tRNA (not only pre-tRNA, shown previously to be capable of self-excision of intron sequences) can be responsible for specific cleavage of another transcript, a ColE1 plasmid-encoded RNA I, which is involved in the regulation of plasmid DNA replication initiation. If this reaction is not restricted to RNA I but represents a more general phenomenon, one might suspect a potential role for uncharged tRNA molecules in regulation of various processes, whose efficiency depends on tRNA-cleavable RNAs. This kind of regulation would provide a possibility for a cell to respond to different nutrition conditions resulting in different levels of tRNA aminoacylation.

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Another Heritage from the RNA World: Self-Excision of Intron Sequences from Nuclear Pre-tRNAs

Cited by 17 publications

References 32 publications

Enhancement of RNA self‐cleavage by micellar catalysis

Enhancement of RNA self‐cleavage by micellar catalysis

RNA-splicing endonuclease structure and function

Is tRNA only a translation factor or also a regulator of other processes?

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