Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.1.26.4 (RNase H)
 2,751 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A rare class of introns with AT-AC at their termini recently has been identified in metazoan genes. Splicing of these introns requires a different set of small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs) (U11, U12, U5, and U4atac/U6atac) compared with the snRNPs (U1, U2, U5, and U4/U6) required for splicing the majority of pre-mRNA introns, but otherwise little is known regarding the excision of AT-AC introns. Here we use site-specific 4-thiouridine (4SU) crosslinking analysis to dissect the mechanism of 5' splice site recognition during in vitro splicing of the AT-AC intron from the P120 pre-mRNA. Upon irradiation with 365-nm UV light, three P120 substrates, each with a single 4SU substitution near the 5' splice site (at position +2, +4, or +7), produce two early ATP-independent crosslinks with similar kinetics. For one of the substrates, P120-4SU+2, a third ATP-requiring crosslink forms as the two early crosslinks diminish. RNase H digestion coupled with Northern blotting indicates that the two early crosslinks generated with P120-4SU+2 contain the U11 small nuclear RNA. Reverse transcription-PCR followed by cloning and sequencing demonstrates that the third crosslink involves U6atac. The dynamic appearance of the three crosslinks correlates with the kinetics of the splicing reaction and suggests that the 5' splice site is recognized first by U11 and then by U6atac. Our results argue that the splicing of AT-AC introns is mechanistically similar to the splicing of the major class of introns and that the U11 and U6atac snRNPs in the AT-AC spliceosome fulfill analogous roles to U1 and U6, respectively, in the major spliceosome.
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PMID:Site-specific crosslinking of mammalian U11 and u6atac to the 5' splice site of an AT-AC intron. 917 63

We describe a new protocol, which does not require (4S)UpG, for introducing (4S)U into specific sites in a pre-mRNA substrate. A 5'-half and a full-length RNA are first synthesized by phage RNA polymerase. p(4S)Up, which is derived from (4S)UpU and can therefore be 32P-labeled, is then ligated to the 3' end of the 5'-half RNA with T4 RNA ligase. The 3' phosphate of the ligated product is removed subsequently by CIP (calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase) to produce a 3'-OH group. The 3'-half RNA with a 5' phosphate is produced by site-specific RNase H cleavage of the full-length pre-mRNA directed by a 2'-O-methyl RNA-DNA chimera. The two half RNAs are then aligned with a bridging oligonucleotide and ligated with T4 DNA ligase. Our results show that 32P-p(4S)Up ligation to the 3' end of the 5'-half RNA is comparable to 32P-pCp ligation. Also, the efficiency of the bridging oligonucleotide-mediated two-piece ligation is quite high, approximately 30-50%. This strategy has been applied to the P120 pre-mRNA containing an AT-AC intron, but should be applicable to many other RNAs.
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PMID:A new strategy for introducing photoactivatable 4-thiouridine ((4S)U) into specific positions in a long RNA molecule. 921 62

We have investigated the formation of prespliceosomal complex A in HeLa nuclear extracts on a splicing substrate containing an AT-AC (U12-type) intron from the P120 gene. Using an RNase H protection assay and specific blocking oligonucleotides, we find that recognition of the 5' splice-site (5'ss) and branchpoint sequence (BPS) elements by U11 and U12 snRNPs, respectively, displays strong cooperativity, requiring both sites in the pre-mRNA substrate for efficient complex formation. Deletion analysis indicates that beside the 5'ss and BPS, no additional elements in the pre-mRNA are necessary for A-complex formation, although 5' exon sequences provide stimulation. Cross-linking studies with pre-mRNAs containing the 5'ss or BPS alone indicate that recognition of the BPS by the U12 snRNP is stimulated at least 20- to 30-fold by the binding of the U11 snRNP to the 5'ss in the same pre-mRNA molecule, whereas recognition of the 5'ss by U11 is stimulated approximately fivefold by the U12/BPS interaction. These results argue that intron recognition in the U12-dependent splicing pathway is carried out by a single U11/U12 di-snRNP complex, suggesting greater rigidity in the intron recognition process than in the major spliceosome.
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PMID:Initial recognition of U12-dependent introns requires both U11/5' splice-site and U12/branchpoint interactions. 1019 85

Availability of 4-thiouridine (4-thioU)-containing RNAs is the prerequisite for 4-thioU site-specific cross-linking studies. This paper presents a method for constructing such RNAs. A 5'- and a 3'-RNA are synthesized via phage RNA polymerase transcription and/or RNase H site-specific cleavage directed by 2'-O-methyl-RNA-DNA chimeras. These two half-RNAs in combination correspond to the sequence of full-length RNA, with a single nucleotide gap at the junction that will be filled in with a 4-thiouridylate. A single p4SUp, which is derived from 4SUpN (N can be any nucleotide) via 5'-phosphorylation (therefore, the phosphate can be radioactive) followed by RNase A digestion, is then ligated to the 3' end of the 5'-half RNA with T4 RNA ligase. The 3'-phosphate of the ligated product is subsequently removed by calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase to produce a 3'-hydroxyl group. The resulting 5'-half RNA and the 3'-half RNA with a 5'-phosphate group (which can also be radioactive) are then aligned with a bridging deoxyoligonucleotide and ligated with T4 DNA ligase. This method was previously applied to the P120 pre-mRNA that contains an AT-AC intron, yielding three RNAs each containing a single 4-thioU near the 5'-splice site. Subsequent cross-linking studies with these RNAs yielded detailed information regarding interactions between the 5'-splice site and other spliceosomal snRNAs and between the 5'-splice site and proteins during splicing. Because there is no sequence constraint surrounding the site of 4-thioU substitution, this method should be applicable to many other RNAs.
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PMID:Construction of 4-thiouridine site-specifically substituted RNAs for cross-linking studies. 1020 12