研究揭示RNA剪接新機制
作者:
小柯機器人發布時間:2019/9/5 15:57:49
美國科羅拉多大學安舒茨醫學校區Rui Zhao研究組與加州大學洛杉磯分校的Z. Hong Zhou研究組合作,揭示了內含子和外顯子定義和反向剪接的統一機制。這一研究成果2019年9月4日在線發表在國際學術期刊《自然》上。
研究人員報導了在內含子上組裝的酵母剪接體E複合物的冷凍電鏡結構,提供了剪接周期(確定mRNA前體進行剪接)中最早事件的視圖。E複合物結構表明相同的剪接體可以跨越外顯子組裝,並且它要麼重構以跨越內含子用於規範的線性剪接(通常在短外顯子上),要麼催化反向剪接以產生環狀RNA(在長外顯子上)。該模型得到了實驗的支持,即當外顯子足夠長時,在酵母EFM5或HMRA1基因的中間外顯子上組裝的E複合物可形成環狀RNA。這個簡單的模型統一了真核生物中利用相同剪接體的內含子定義、外顯子定義和反向剪接,並且能夠促進許多其他系統中的研究來理解這些過程的機制和調控。
研究人員表示,外顯子定義和反向剪接的分子機制是mRNA前體剪接中尚未解決的基本問題。
附:英文原文
Title: A unified mechanism for intron and exon definition and back-splicing
Author: Xueni Li, Shiheng Liu, Lingdi Zhang, Aaron Issaian, Ryan C. Hill, Sara Espinosa, Shasha Shi, Yanxiang Cui, Kalli Kappel, Rhiju Das, Kirk C. Hansen, Z. Hong Zhou, Rui Zhao
Issue&Volume: 2019-09-04
Abstract: The molecular mechanisms of exon definition and back-splicing are fundamental unanswered questions in pre-mRNA splicing. Here we report cryo-electron microscopy structures of the yeast spliceosomal E complex assembled on introns, providing a view of the earliest event in the splicing cycle that commits pre-mRNAs to splicing. The E complex architecture suggests that the same spliceosome can assemble across an exon, and that it either remodels to span an intron for canonical linear splicing (typically on short exons) or catalyses back-splicing to generate circular RNA (on long exons). The model is supported by our experiments, which show that an E complex assembled on the middle exon of yeast EFM5 or HMRA1 can be chased into circular RNA when the exon is sufficiently long. This simple model unifies intron definition, exon definition, and back-splicing through the same spliceosome in all eukaryotes and should inspire experiments in many other systems to understand the mechanism and regulation of these processes.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1523-6
Source:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1523-6