Characterization of MazF-Mediated Sequence-Specific RNA Cleavage in Pseudomonas putida Using Massive Parallel Sequencing

Under environmental stress, microbes are known to alter their translation patterns using sequence-specific endoribonucleases that we call RNA interferases. However, there has been limited insight regarding which RNAs are specifically cleaved by these RNA interferases, hence their physiological functions remain unknown. In the current study, we developed a novel method to effectively identify cleavage specificities with massive parallel sequencing. This approach uses artificially designed RNAs composed of diverse sequences, which do not form extensive secondary structures, and it correctly identified the cleavage sequence of a well-characterized Escherichia coli RNA interferase, MazF, as ACA. In addition, we also determined that an uncharacterized MazF homologue isolated from Pseudomonas putida specifically recognizes the unique triplet, UAC. Using a real-time fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay, the UAC triplet was further proved to be essential for cleavage in P. putida MazF. These results highlight an effective method to determine cleavage specificity of RNA interferases.     

Replacement of All Arginine Residues with Canavanine in MazF-bs mRNA Interferase Changes Its Specificity

Replacement of a specific amino acid residue in a protein with nonnatural analogues is highly challenging because of their cellular toxicity. We demonstrate for the first time the replacement of all arginine (Arg) residues in a protein with canavanine (Can), a toxic Arg analogue. All Arg residues in the 5-base specific (UACAU) mRNA interferase from Bacillus subtilis (MazF-bs(arg)) were replaced with Can by using the single-protein production system in Escherichia coli. The resulting MazF-bs(can) gained a 6-base recognition sequence, UACAUA, for RNA cleavage instead of the 5-base sequence, UACAU, for MazF-bs(arg). Mass spectrometry analysis confirmed that all Arg residues were replaced with Can. The present system offers a novel approach to create new functional proteins by replacing a specific amino acid in a protein with its analogues.     

ACA‐specific RNA sequence recognition is acquired via the loop 2 region of MazF mRNA interferase

MazF is an mRNA interferase that cleaves mRNAs at a specific RNA sequence. MazF from E. coli (MazF‐ec) cleaves RNA at A and CA. To date, a large number of MazF homologs that cleave RNA at specific three‐ to seven‐base sequences have been identified from bacteria to archaea. MazF‐ec forms a dimer, in which the interface between the two subunits is known to be the RNA substrate‐binding site. Here, we investigated the role of the two loops in MazF‐ec, which are closely associated with the interface of the MazF‐ec dimer. We examined whether exchanging the loop regions of MazF‐ec with those from other MazF homologs, such as MazF from Myxococcus xanthus (MazF‐mx) and MazF from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MazF‐mt3), affects RNA cleavage specificity. We found that exchanging loop 2 of MazF‐ec with loop 2 regions from either MazF‐mx or MazF‐mt3 created a new cleavage sequence at (A/U)(A/U)AA and C in addition to the original cleavage site, A and CA, whereas exchanging loop 1 did not alter cleavage specificity. Intriguingly, exchange of loop 2 with 8 or 12 consecutive Gly residues also resulted in a new RNA cleavage site at (A/U)(A/U)AA and C. The present study suggests a method for expanding the RNA cleavage repertoire of mRNA interferases, which is crucial for potential use in the regulation of specific gene expression and for biotechnological applications. Proteins 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Insights into the mRNA cleavage mechanism by MazF, an mRNA interferase

MazF is an Escherichia coli toxin that is highly conserved among the prokaryotes and plays an important role in growth regulation. When MazF is induced, protein synthesis is effectively inhibited. However, the mechanism of MazF action has been controversial. Here we unequivocally demonstrate that MazF is an endoribonuclease that specifically cleaves mRNAs at ACA sequences. We then demonstrate its enzymatic specificity using short RNA substrates. MazF cleaves RNA at the 5'-end of ACA sequences, yielding a 2',3'-cyclic phosphate at one side and a free 5'-OH group at the other. Using DNA-RNA chimeric substrates containing XACA, the 2'-OH group of residue X was found absolutely essential for MazF cleavage, whereas all the other residues may be deoxyriboses. Therefore, MazF exhibits exquisite site specificity and has utility as an RNA-restriction enzyme for RNA structural studies or as an mRNA interferase to regulate cell growth in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.     

Translation affects YoeB and MazF messenger RNA interferase activities by different mechanisms

Prokaryotic toxin–antitoxin loci encode mRNA cleaving enzymes that inhibit translation. Two types are known: those that cleave mRNA codons at the ribosomal A site and those that cleave any RNA site specifically. RelE of Escherichia coli cleaves mRNA at the ribosomal A site in vivo and in vitro but does not cleave pure RNA in vitro. RelE exhibits an incomplete RNase fold that may explain why RelE requires its substrate mRNA to presented by the ribosome. In contrast, RelE homologue YoeB has a complete RNase fold and cleaves RNA independently of ribosomes in vitro. Here, we show that YoeB cleavage of mRNA is strictly dependent on translation of the mRNA in vivo. Non-translated model mRNAs were not cleaved whereas the corresponding wild-type mRNAs were cleaved efficiently. Model mRNAs carrying frameshift mutations exhibited a YoeB-mediated cleavage pattern consistent with the reading frameshift thus giving strong evidence that YoeB cleavage specificity was determined by the translational reading frame. In contrast, site-specific mRNA cleavage by MazF occurred independently of translation. In one case, translation seriously influenced MazF cleavage efficiency, thus solving a previous apparent paradox. We propose that translation enhances MazF-mediated cleavage of mRNA by destabilization of the mRNA secondary structure.     

Characterization of mRNA interferases from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

mRNA interferases are sequence-specific endoribonucleases encoded by the toxin-antitoxin systems in the bacterial genomes. MazF from Escherichia coli has been shown to be an mRNA interferase that specifically cleaves at ACA sequences in single-stranded RNAs. It has been shown that MazF induction in E. coli effectively inhibits protein synthesis leading to cell growth arrest in the quasidormant state. Here we have demonstrated that Mycobacterium tuberculosis contains at least seven genes encoding MazF homologues (MazF-mt1 to -mt7), four of which (MazF-mt1, -mt3, -mt4, and -mt6) caused cell growth arrest when induced in E. coli. MazF-mt1 and MazF-mt6 were purified and characterized for their mRNA interferase specificities. We showed that MazF-mt1 preferentially cleaves the era mRNA between U and A in UAC triplet sequences, whereas MazF-mt6 preferentially cleaves U-rich regions in the era mRNA both in vivo and in vitro. These results indicate that M. tuberculosis contains sequence-specific mRNA interferases, which may play a role in the persistent dormancy of this devastating pathogen in human tissues.     

Characterization of ChpBK, an mRNA interferase from Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli contains a number of antitoxin-toxin modules on its chromosome, which are responsible for cell growth arrest and possible cell death. ChpBK is a toxin encoded by the ChpBIK antitoxin-toxin module. This module consists of a pair of genes, chpBI and chpBK encoding antitoxin ChpBI and toxin ChpBK, respectively. ChpBK consists of 116 amino acid residues, and its sequence shows 35% identity and 52% similarity to MazF, another E. coli toxin. MazF has been shown to be a sequence-specific (ACA) endoribonuclease that cleaves cellular mRNAs and effectively blocks protein synthesis and is thus termed as an mRNA interferase. Here we demonstrate that ChpBK is another mRNA interferase in E. coli whose induction effectively blocks cell growth in a manner similar to that of MazF. The protein synthesis as judged by incorporation of [35S]methionine was, however, reduced by only 60% upon ChpBK induction. We demonstrate that ChpBK is a new sequence-specific endoribonuclease that cleaves mRNAs both in vivo and in vitro at the 5'-or3'-side of the A residue in ACY sequences (Y is U, A, or G). The ChpBK cleavage of a synthetic RNA substrate generated a 2',3'-cyclic phosphate group at the 3'-end of the 5'-end product and a 5'-OH group at the 5'-end of the 3'-end product in a manner identical to that of MazF.     

The discovery of mRNA interferases: implication in bacterial physiology and application to biotechnology

Escherichia coli contains a large number of suicide or toxin genes, whose expression leads to cell growth arrest and eventual cell death. This raises intriguing questions as to why E. coli contains so many toxin genes and what are their roles in bacterial physiology. Among these, MazF has been shown to be a sequence-specific endoribonuclease, which cleaves mRNAs at ACA sequences to completely inhibit protein synthesis. MazF is therefore called mRNA interferase. A number of other mRNA interferases with different cleavage specificities have been discovered not only in E. coli, but also in other bacteria including Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Induction of MazF in the cell leads to cellular dormancy termed quasi-dormancy. In spite of complete cell growth inhibition, cells in the quasi-dormant state are fully capable of energy metabolism, amino acids and nucleic acids biosynthesis and RNA and protein synthesis. The quasi-dormancy may be implicated in cell survival under stress conditions and may play a major role in pathogenicity of M. tuberculosis. The quasi-dormant cells provide an intriguing novel biotechnological system producing only a protein of interest in a high yield. MazF causing Bak-dependent programmed cell death in mammalian cells may be used as a tool for gene therapy against cancer and AIDS. The discovery of a novel way to interfere with mRNA function by mRNA interferases opens a wide variety of avenues in basic as well as applied and clinical sciences.     

Intramolecular regulation of the sequence-specific mRNA interferase activity of MazF fused to a MazE fragment with a linker cleavable by specific proteases

The genomes of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) consist of single-stranded RNA encoding polyproteins, which are processed to individual functional proteins by virus-encoded specific proteases. These proteases have been used as targets for drug development. Here, instead of targeting these proteases to inhibit viral infection, we utilized the protease activity to activate a toxic protein to prevent viral infection. We engineered the MazE-MazF antitoxin-toxin system of Escherichia coli to fuse a C-terminal 41-residue fragment of antitoxin MazE to the N-terminal end of toxin MazF with a linker having a specific protease cleavage site for either HIV PR (HIV-1 protease), NS3 protease (HCV protease), or factor Xa. These fusion proteins formed a stable dimer (instead of the MazF(2)-MazE(2)-MazF(2) heterohexamer in nature) to inactivate the ACA (sequence)-specific mRNA interferase activity of MazF. When the fusion proteins were incubated with the corresponding proteases, the MazE fragment was cleaved from the fusion proteins, releasing active MazF, which then acted as an ACA-specific mRNA interferase cleaving single-stranded MS2 phage RNA. The intramolecular regulation of MazF toxicity by proteases as demonstrated may provide a novel approach for preventive and therapeutic treatments of infection by HIV-1, HCV, and other single-stranded RNA viruses.     

MoxT toxin of Bacillus anthracis exhibits sequence specific ribonuclease activity

MoxXT module of Bacillus anthracis encodes MoxX, a labile protein and MoxT, a ribonuclease. However, mechanism of cleavage of RNA by MoxT has not been explored till date. In the present study, we have demonstrated that MoxT is a sequence specific ribonuclease which recognizes UACAU sequence in ss RNA and cleaves between U and A. Moreover, cleavage of RNA requires 2′ OH group of first residue, i.e. U of UACAU RNA sequence. An interesting finding which makes it distinct from the other MazF family toxins was also observed, i.e. its ability to cleave RNA in DNA–RNA hybrid.     

Insights into the specificity of RNA cleavage by the Escherichia coli MazF toxin

The mazEF (chpA) toxin-antitoxin system of Escherichia coli is involved in the cell response to nutritional and antibiotic stresses as well as in bacterial-programmed cell death. Valuable information on the MazF toxin was derived from the determination of the crystal structure of the MazE/MazF complex and from in vivo data, suggesting that MazF promoted ribosome-dependent cleavage of messenger RNA. However, it was concluded from recent in vitro analyses using a MazF-(His6) fusion protein that MazF was an endoribonuclease that cleaved messenger RNA specifically at 5'-ACA-3' sites situated in single-stranded regions. In contrast, our work reported here shows that native MazF protein cleaves RNA at the 5' side of residue A in 5'-NAC-3' sequences (where N is preferentially U or A). MazF-dependent cleavage occurred at target sequences situated either in single- or double-stranded RNA regions. These activities were neutralized by a His6-MazE antitoxin. Although essentially consistent with previous in vivo reports on the substrate specificity of MazF, our results strongly suggest that the endoribonuclease activity of MazF may be modulated by additional factors to cleave messenger and other cellular RNAs.     

tRNA is a new target for cleavage by a MazF toxin

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems play key roles in bacterial persistence, biofilm formation and stress responses. The MazF toxin from the Escherichia coli mazEF TA system is a sequence- and single-strand-specific endoribonuclease, and many studies have led to the proposal that MazF family members exclusively target mRNA. However, recent data indicate some MazF toxins can cleave specific sites within rRNA in concert with mRNA. In this report, we identified the repertoire of RNAs cleaved by Mycobacterium tuberculosis toxin MazF-mt9 using an RNA-seq-based approach. This analysis revealed that two tRNAs were the principal targets of MazF-mt9, and each was cleaved at a single site in either the tRNA^Pro14 D-loop or within the tRNA^Lys43 anticodon. This highly selective target discrimination occurs through recognition of not only sequence but also structural determinants. Thus, MazF-mt9 represents the only MazF family member known to target tRNA and to require RNA structure for recognition and cleavage. Interestingly, the tRNase activity of MazF-mt9 mirrors basic features of eukaryotic tRNases that also generate stable tRNA-derived fragments that can inhibit translation in response to stress. Our data also suggest a role for tRNA distinct from its canonical adapter function in translation, as cleavage of tRNAs by MazF-mt9 downregulates bacterial growth.     

The mRNA interferases, MazF-mt3 and MazF-mt7 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis target unique pentad sequences in single-stranded RNA

mRNA interferases are sequence-specific endoribonucleases encoded by toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems in bacterial genomes. Previously, we demonstrated that Mycobacterium tuberculosis contains at least seven genes encoding MazF homologues (MazF-mt1 to -mt7) and determined cleavage specificities for MazF-mt1 and MazF-mt6. Here we have developed a new general method for the determination of recognition sequences longer than three bases for mRNA interferases with the use of phage MS2 RNA as a substrate and CspA, an RNA chaperone, which prevents the formation of secondary structures in the RNA substrate. Using this method, we determined that MazF-mt3 cleaves RNA at UU˘CCU or CU˘CCU and MazF-mt7 at U˘CGCU (˘indicates the cleavage site). As pentad sequence recognition is more specific than those of previously characterized mRNA interferases, bioinformatics analysis was carried out to identify M. tuberculosis mRNAs that may be resistant to MazF-mt3 and MazF-mt7 cleavage. The pentad sequence was found to be significantly underrepresented in several genes, including members of the PE and PPE families, large families of proteins that play a role in tuberculosis immunity and pathogenesis. These data suggest that MazF-mt3 and MazF-mt7 or other mRNA interferases that target longer RNA sequences may alter protein expression through differential mRNA degradation, a regulatory mechanism that may allow adaptation to environmental conditions, including those encountered by pathogens such as M. tuberculosis during infection.     

Production of membrane proteins for NMR studies using the condensed single protein (cSPP) production system

In the Single Protein Production (SPP) method, all E. coli cellular mRNAs are eliminated by the induction of MazF, an ACA-specific mRNA interferase. When an mRNA for a membrane protein, engineered to have no ACA sequences without altering its amino acid sequence, is induced in the MazF-induced cells, E. coli is converted into a bioreactor producing only the targeted membrane protein. Here we demonstrate that three prokaryotic inner membrane proteins, two prokaryotic outer membrane proteins, and one human virus membrane protein can be produced at very high levels, and assembled in appropriate membrane fractions. The condensed SPP (cSPP) system was used to selectively produce isotope-enriched membrane proteins for NMR studies in up to 150-fold condensed culture without affecting protein yields, providing more than 99% cost saving for isotopes. As a novel application of the cSPP system for studies of membrane proteins prior to purification we also demonstrate, for the first time, fast detergent screening by microcoil NMR and well-resolved NMR spectra of several targeted integral membrane proteins obtained without purification.