Recruitment, Duplex Unwinding and Protein-Mediated Inhibition of the Dead-Box RNA Helicase Dbp2 at Actively Transcribed Chromatin

Abstract

RNA helicases play fundamental roles in modulating RNA structures and facilitating RNA–protein (RNP) complex assembly in vivo. Previously, our laboratory demonstrated that the DEAD-box RNA helicase Dbp2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is required to promote efficient assembly of the co-transcriptionally associated mRNA-binding proteins Yra1, Nab2, and Mex67 onto poly(A)+RNA. We also found that Yra1 associates directly with Dbp2 and functions as an inhibitor of Dbp2-dependent duplex unwinding, suggestive of a cycle of unwinding and inhibition by Dbp2. To test this, we undertook a series of experiments to shed light on the order of events for Dbp2 in co-transcriptional mRNP assembly. We now show that Dbp2 is recruited to chromatin via RNA and forms a large, RNA-dependent complex with Yra1 and Mex67. Moreover, single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer and bulk biochemical assays show that Yra1 inhibits unwinding in a concentration-dependent manner by preventing the association of Dbp2 with single-stranded RNA. This inhibition prevents over-accumulation of Dbp2 on mRNA and stabilization of a subset of RNA polymerase II transcripts. We propose a model whereby Yra1 terminates a cycle of mRNP assembly by Dbp2.