The crystal structure of the Argonaute2 PAZ domain reveals an RNA binding motif in RNAi effector complexes

Song, J. J., Liu, J., Tolia, N. H., Schneiderman, J., Smith, S. K., Martienssen, R. A., Hannon, G. J., Joshua-Tor, L. (December 2003) The crystal structure of the Argonaute2 PAZ domain reveals an RNA binding motif in RNAi effector complexes. Nat Struct Biol, 10 (12). pp. 1026-32. ISSN 1072-8368 (Print) (Public Dataset)

URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14625589
DOI: 10.1038/nsb1016

Abstract

RISC, the RNA-induced silencing complex, uses short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) or micro RNAs (miRNAs) to select its targets in a sequence-dependent manner. Key RISC components are Argonaute proteins, which contain two characteristic domains, PAZ and PIWI. PAZ is highly conserved and is found only in Argonaute proteins and Dicer. We have solved the crystal structure of the PAZ domain of Drosophila Argonaute2. The PAZ domain contains a variant of the OB fold, a module that often binds single-stranded nucleic acids. PAZ domains show low-affinity nucleic acid binding, probably interacting with the 3' ends of single-stranded regions of RNA. PAZ can bind the characteristic two-base 3' overhangs of siRNAs, indicating that although PAZ may not be a primary nucleic acid binding site in Dicer or RISC, it may contribute to the specific and productive incorporation of siRNAs and miRNAs into the RNAi pathway.

Item Type: Paper
Uncontrolled Keywords: Amino Acid Sequence Animals Binding Sites Cloning Molecular Crystallography X-Ray Drosophila Proteins chemistry metabolism Drosophila melanogaster Gene Silencing Models Molecular Molecular Sequence Data Protein Conformation RNA/ chemistry metabolism RNA-Induced Silencing Complex chemistry metabolism Recombinant Fusion Proteins/chemistry Sequence Alignment Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Subjects: bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > RNAi
Investigative techniques and equipment > X-Ray Diffraction
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > protein structure, function, modification > protein types > argonaute proteins
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > siRNA
Investigative techniques and equipment > x ray crystallography
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Hannon lab
CSHL labs > Joshua-Tor lab
CSHL labs > Martienssen lab
School of Biological Sciences > Publications
Depositing User: CSHL Librarian
Date: December 2003
Date Deposited: 21 Mar 2012 19:44
Last Modified: 05 Sep 2017 18:56
Related URLs:
Dataset ID:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/25487

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