Abstract
The wide array of vital functions that RNA performs is dependent on its ability to dynamically fold into different structures in response to intracellular and extracellular changes. RNA-binding proteins regulate much of this activity by targeting specific RNA structures or motifs. One of these structures, the 3-way RNA junction, is characteristically found in ribosomal RNA and results from the RNA folding in cis, to produce three separate helices that meet around a central unpaired region. Here we demonstrate that 3-way junctions can also form in trans as a result of the binding of microRNAs in an unconventional manner with mRNA by splinting two non-contiguous regions together. This may be used to reinforce the base of a stem-loop motif being targeted by an RNA-binding protein. Trans interactions between non-coding RNA and mRNA may be used to control the post-transcriptional regulatory code and suggests a possible role for some of the recently described transcripts of unknown function expressed from the human genome.
Highlights
RNA performs a broad variety of fundamental cellular functions, many of which depend on its ability to actively fold into numerous conformational structures
OTHER EXAMPLES OF sxRNA We have identified predicted sxRNAs for the ironresponse element (IRE), which is the target of the IRE-binding proteins that regulate the post-transcriptional expression of genes involved in iron metabolism
Unlike DNA, RNA has the tremendous potential to form complex and elegant structures and this may be the single most biologically important attribute of RNA. This property permits RNA to serve both as an intermediate for conveying the genetic code while creating unique surfaces for performing protein-like enzymatic functions in the cell. This allows mRNA to simultaneously encode for a protein as well as regulate where, when and how much of the mRNA will be translated into this protein
Summary
RNA performs a broad variety of fundamental cellular functions, many of which depend on its ability to actively fold into numerous conformational structures.
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