Dataset Information

Prevalence of syn nucleobases in the active sites of functional RNAs.

ABSTRACT: Biological RNAs, like their DNA counterparts, contain helical stretches, which have standard Watson-Crick base pairs in the anti conformation. Most functional RNAs also adopt geometries with far greater complexity such as bulges, loops, and multihelical junctions. Occasionally, nucleobases in these regions populate the syn conformation wherein the base resides close to or over the ribose sugar, which leads to a more compact state. The importance of the syn conformation to RNA function is largely unknown. In this study, we analyze 51 RNAs with tertiary structure, including aptamers, riboswitches, ribozymes, and ribosomal RNAs, for number, location, and properties of syn nucleobases. These RNAs represent the set of nonoverlapping, moderate- to high-resolution structures available at present. We find that syn nucleobases are much more common among purines than pyrimidines, and that they favor C2'-endo-like conformations especially among those nucleobases in the intermediate syn conformation. Strikingly, most syn nucleobases participate in tertiary stacking and base-pairing interactions: Inspection of RNA structures revealed that the majority of the syn nucleobases are in regions assigned to function, with many syn nucleobases interacting directly with a ligand or ribozyme active site. These observations suggest that judicious placement of conformationally restricted nucleotides biased into the syn conformation could enhance RNA folding and catalysis. Such changes could also be useful for locking RNAs into functionally competent folds for use in X-ray crystallography and NMR.

SUBMITTER: Sokoloski JE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3185911 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Prevalence of syn nucleobases in the active sites of functional RNAs.

Sokoloski Joshua E JE Godfrey Stephanie A SA Dombrowski Sarah E SE Bevilacqua Philip C PC

RNA (New York, N.Y.) 20110826 10

Biological RNAs, like their DNA counterparts, contain helical stretches, which have standard Watson-Crick base pairs in the anti conformation. Most functional RNAs also adopt geometries with far greater complexity such as bulges, loops, and multihelical junctions. Occasionally, nucleobases in these regions populate the syn conformation wherein the base resides close to or over the ribose sugar, which leads to a more compact state. The importance of the syn conformation to RNA function is largely ...[more]

PMID: 21873463

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Project description:Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important regulators of chromatin; however, the mechanistic roles for many lncRNAs are poorly understood in part because their direct interactions with genomic loci and proteins are difficult to assess. We used CHART-seq to map the genomic binding sites for two highly expressed human lncRNAs, NEAT1 and MALAT1, which localize within the nucleus to paraspeckles and nuclear speckles, respectively. We show that NEAT1 and MALAT1 localize to hundreds of genomic sites in human cells, primarily over active genes. NEAT1 and MALAT1 exhibit colocalization to many of these loci, but display distinct gene body binding patterns at these sites, suggesting independent but complementary functions for these RNAs. Protein mass spectrometry analysis of CHART-enriched material (CHART-MS) identified numerous proteins enriched by both lncRNAs, supporting complementary binding and function, in addition to unique associated proteins. Transcriptional inhibition or stimulation affects the localization of NEAT1 to active chromatin sites, implying that DNA sequence itself does not target NEAT1 to chromatin and that localization responds to cues involved in the transcription process. Paired-end CHART-seq was performed for a single replicate of each capture oligonucleotide in untreated MCF-7 cells to establish binding sites of these RNAs, for a total of 6 samples. To investigate the effects of transcriptional inhibition and E2 stimulation on the localization of these RNAs, we performed paired-end CHART-seq with each capture oligonucleotide for two biological replicates of flavopiridol- and vehicle (DMSO)-treated MCF-7 cells and for two biological replicates of E2- and vehicle (ethanol)-treated MCF-7 cells. To establish the overlap of NEAT1 and MALAT1 binding sites with a known component of paraspeckles (NEAT1-containing subnuclear body), we performed paired-end ChIP-seq for the paraspeckle component PSF in MCF-7 cells, as well as a single-end biological replicate.

Dataset Information

Prevalence of syn nucleobases in the active sites of functional RNAs.

Publications

Prevalence of syn nucleobases in the active sites of functional RNAs.

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