Moving RNA moves RNA forward

Cell communication affects all aspects of cell structure and behavior, such as cell proliferation, differentiation, division, and coordination of various physiological functions. The moving RNA in plants and mammalian cells indicates that nucleic acid could be one of the various types of messengers for cell communication. The microvesicle is a critical pathway that mediates RNA moving and keeps moving RNA stable in body fluids. When moving miRNA enters the target cell, it functions by altering the gene expression profile and significantly inhibiting mRNA translation in recipient cells. Thus, moving RNA may act as a long-range modulator during development, organogenesis, and tumor metastasis.     

Catalytic RNA and RNA Splicing

The capacity of Watson-Crick base-pair complementarity to directinformational transactions basic to gene expression has longbeen appreciated. Among RNA molecules, it mediates mRNA-tRNAcodon-anticodon pairing and the 16S rRNA-mRNA Shine-Dalgarnointeraction. More recently, we have come to realize that therole of RNA may transcend that of intermolecular recognition,per se, to include catalysis. Following the tour-de-force studiesof the self-splicing Tetrahymena rRNA precursor, the stage isnow set for the primary role of RNA to be revealed in nuclearpre-RNA splicing, which is catalyzed by a large ribonucleoprotein(RNP) complex in the cell nucleus, called the spliceosome. Theremoval of introns from nuclear pre-messenger RNA (pre-mRNA)shares fundamental properties with certain RNA self-splicingreactions. It therefore seems likely that the major catalyticstrategies in nuclear pre-mRNA splicing are carried out by thesmall nuclear RNAs (snRNAs), which are major constituents ofthe spliceosome.     

非编码RNA和RNA沉默

生物体内存在大量的非编码RNA ,它们形态各异 ,功能也千差万别 ,在生物的生长、发育、分化进程中扮演着不同的角色 ,尤其是siRNA ,它是RNA沉默的诱因。RNA沉默是真核生物特有的现象 ,它需要一系列因子的参与 ,其中RNA依赖性的RNA聚合酶是沉默起始的关键 ,Dicer酶是形成siRNA的基础 ,而RNA沉默诱导复合体 (RSIC)等是发生RNA沉默“链式反应”的关键因子     

Enzymatic cleavage of RNA by RNA

The catalytic activity of E. coli RNase P, an enzyme essential for tRNA biosynthesis in vivo, resides in the RNA subunit of the enzyme. This RNA, which has all the properties of a classical enzyme, can cleave precursor tRNAs in vitro in the total absence of proteins.     

RNA chaperones encoded by RNA viruses

RNAs are functionally diverse macromolecules whose proper functions rely strictly upon their correct tertiary structures. However, because of their high structural flexibility, correct folding of RNAs is challenging and slow. Therefore, cells and viruses encode a variety of RNA remodeling proteins, including helicases and RNA chaperones. In RNA viruses, these proteins are believed to play pivotal roles in all the processes involving viral RNAs during the life cycle. RNA helicases have been studied extensively for decades, whereas RNA chaperones, particularly virus-encoded RNA chaperones, are often overlooked. This review describes the activities of RNA chaperones encoded by RNA viruses, particularly the ones identified and characterized in recent years, and the functions of these proteins in different steps of viral life cycles, and presents an overview of this unique group of proteins.     

Enzymatic cleavage of RNA by RNA

The discovery and characterization of the catalytic RNA subunit of the enzyme ribonuclease P ofEscherichia coli is described.Nobel lecture given on December 8, 1989, by Professor Sidney Altman, and published in LES PRIX NOBEL 1989, printed in Sweden by Norstedts Tryckeri, Stockholm, Sweden, 1990, republished here with the permission of the Nobel Foundation, the copyright holder.     

ADAR-mediated RNA editing in non-coding RNA sequences

Adenosine to inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing is the most abundant editing event in animals. It converts adenosine to inosine in double-stranded RNA regions through the action of the adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR) proteins. Editing of pre-mRNA coding regions can alter the protein codon and increase functional diversity. However, most of the A-to-I editing sites occur in the non-coding regions of pre-mRNA or mRNA and non-coding RNAs. Untranslated regions (UTRs) and introns are located in pre-mRNA non-coding regions, thus A-to-I editing can influence gene expression by nuclear retention, degradation, alternative splicing, and translation regulation. Non-coding RNAs such as microRNA (miRNA), small interfering RNA (siRNA) and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) are related to pre-mRNA splicing, translation, and gene regulation. A-to-I editing could therefore affect the stability, biogenesis, and target recognition of non-coding RNAs. Finally, it may influence the function of non-coding RNAs, resulting in regulation of gene expression. This review focuses on the function of ADAR-mediated RNA editing on mRNA non-coding regions (UTRs and introns) and non-coding RNAs (miRNA, siRNA, and lncRNA).     

RNA splicing promotes translation and RNA surveillance

Aberrant mRNAs harboring premature termination codons (PTCs or nonsense codons) are degraded by the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway. mRNAs transcribed from genes that naturally acquire PTCs during lymphocyte development are strongly downregulated by PTCs. Here we show that a signal essential for this robust mRNA downregulatory response is efficient RNA splicing. Strong mRNA downregulation can be conferred on a poor NMD substrate by either strengthening its splicing signals or removing its weak introns. Efficient splicing also strongly promotes translation, providing a molecular explanation for enhanced NMD and suggesting that efficient splicing may have evolved to enhance both protein production and RNA surveillance. Our results suggest simple approaches for increasing protein expression from expression vectors and treating human genetic diseases caused by nonsense and frameshift mutations.