Unknown

Dataset Information

0

Evidence for a thermodynamically distinct Mg2+ ion associated with formation of an RNA tertiary structure.


ABSTRACT: A folding strategy adopted by some RNAs is to chelate cations in pockets or cavities, where the ions neutralize charge from solvent-inaccessible phosphate. Although such buried Mg(2+)-RNA chelates could be responsible for a significant fraction of the Mg(2+)-dependent stabilization free energy of some RNA tertiary structures, direct measurements have not been feasible because of the difficulty of finding conditions under which the free energy of Mg(2+) chelation is uncoupled from RNA folding and from unfavorable interactions with Mg(2+) ions in other environments. In a 58mer rRNA fragment, we have used a high-affinity thermophilic ribosomal protein to trap the RNA in a structure nearly identical to native; Mg(2+)- and protein-stabilized structures differ in the solvent exposure of a single nucleotide located at the chelation site. Under these conditions, titration of a high affinity chelation site takes place in a micromolar range of Mg(2+) concentration, and is partially resolved from the accumulation of Mg(2+) in the ion atmosphere. From these experiments, we estimate the total and site-specific Mg(2+)-RNA interaction free energies over the range of accessed Mg(2+) concentrations. At 0.1 mM Mg(2+) and 60 mM K(+), specific site binding contributes ?-3 kcal/mol of the total Mg(2+) interaction free energy of ?-13 kcal/mol from all sources; at higher Mg(2+) concentrations the site-binding contribution becomes a smaller proportion of the total (-4.5 vs -33 kcal/mol). Under approximately physiological ionic conditions, the specific binding site will be saturated but will provide only a fraction of the total free energy of Mg(2+)-RNA interactions.

SUBMITTER: Leipply D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3505420 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

altmetric image

Publications

Evidence for a thermodynamically distinct Mg2+ ion associated with formation of an RNA tertiary structure.

Leipply Desirae D   Draper David E DE  

Journal of the American Chemical Society 20110804 34


A folding strategy adopted by some RNAs is to chelate cations in pockets or cavities, where the ions neutralize charge from solvent-inaccessible phosphate. Although such buried Mg(2+)-RNA chelates could be responsible for a significant fraction of the Mg(2+)-dependent stabilization free energy of some RNA tertiary structures, direct measurements have not been feasible because of the difficulty of finding conditions under which the free energy of Mg(2+) chelation is uncoupled from RNA folding and  ...[more]

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC1995082 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC1599903 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC2538950 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC5572644 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC2931721 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC3001104 | biostudies-literature
2024-10-31 | GSE268619 | GEO
| S-EPMC3186870 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC4241985 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC1865062 | biostudies-literature