Nucleic Acids Research Advance Access originally published online on September 9, 2008
Nucleic Acids Research 2008 36(18):5800-5811; doi:10.1093/nar/gkn581
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Nucleic Acids Research, 2008, Vol. 36, No. 18 5800-5811
© 2008 The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Nucleic Acid Enzymes |
The putative RNase P motif in the DEAD box helicase Hera is dispensable for efficient interaction with RNA and helicase activity
1Department of Biophysical Chemistry, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, 4056 Basel, Switzerland and 2Philipps-Universität Marburg, Institute for Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Marbacher Weg 6, 35037 Marburg, Germany
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +41 61 267 2381; Fax: +41 61 267 2189; Email: dagmar.klostermeier{at}unibas.ch
Received July 15, 2008. Revised August 27, 2008. Accepted August 27, 2008.
DEAD box helicases use the energy of ATP hydrolysis to remodel RNA structures or RNA/protein complexes. They share a common helicase core with conserved signature motifs, and additional domains may confer substrate specificity. Identification of a specific substrate is crucial towards understanding the physiological role of a helicase. RNA binding and ATPase stimulation are necessary, but not sufficient criteria for a bona fide helicase substrate. Here, we report single molecule FRET experiments that identify fragments of the 23S rRNA comprising hairpin 92 and RNase P RNA as substrates for the Thermus thermophilus DEAD box helicase Hera. Both substrates induce a switch to the closed conformation of the helicase core and stimulate the intrinsic ATPase activity of Hera. Binding of these RNAs is mediated by the Hera C-terminal domain, but does not require a previously proposed putative RNase P motif within this domain. ATP-dependent unwinding of a short helix adjacent to hairpin 92 in the ribosomal RNA suggests a specific role for Hera in ribosome assembly, analogously to the Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis helicases DbpA and YxiN. In addition, the specificity of Hera for RNase P RNA may be required for RNase P RNA folding or RNase P assembly.
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