Expression, purification and structural analysis of the Pyrococcus abyssi RNA binding protein PAB1135

Abstract

BackgroundThe gene coding for the uncharacterized protein PAB1135 in the archaeon Pyrococcus abyssi is in the same operon as the ribonuclease P (RNase P) subunit Rpp30.FindingsHere we report the expression, purification and structural analysis of PAB1135. We analyzed the interaction of PAB1135 with RNA and show that it binds efficiently double-stranded RNAs in a non-sequence specific manner. We also performed molecular modeling of the PAB1135 structure using the crystal structure of the protein Af2318 from Archaeoglobus fulgidus (2OGK) as the template.ConclusionsComparison of this model has lead to the identification of a region in PAB1135 that could be involved in recognizing double-stranded RNA.