细菌RNA聚腺苷酸化修饰及其调控机制与生理作用

聚腺苷酸化 (polyadenylation) 是指在底物RNA的3′-端加上一段聚腺苷酸残基的转录后修饰作用。1971年,第一次发现真核生物mRNA的3′-端存在多聚腺苷酸 (poly (A)) 尾,它保护mRNA免受核酸外切酶攻击,且对于转录终止、mRNA运输及翻译都起到重要作用,学者们一度将该现象认为是真核细胞mRNA的特征之一。时至今日,细菌RNA聚腺苷酸化现象的发现引起了学术界的高度重视,大量的研究结果不仅证明了该种修饰在细菌中普遍存在,而且发现其在细菌RNA的加工、降解及质量监控中扮演重要的角色;然而,与真核生物不同的是,在原核生物中该修饰倾向于使RNA去稳定化,即加速RNA的降解。本文综述了近年来细菌中RNA聚腺苷酸化修饰及其调控机制与生理作用的研究进展。     

聚腺苷酸特异性核糖核酸酶(PARN)的功能多样性

聚腺苷酸尾的降解对于mRNA的质量控制和转录后基因调控十分重要. 在真核生物中,去腺苷酸化是mRNA降解和翻译沉默的首要限速步骤. 3′核糖核酸外切酶--聚腺苷酸特异性核糖核酸酶（poly(A)-specific ribonuclease,PARN）能够高效降解真核生物mRNA的聚腺苷酸尾. PARN不仅在降解mRNA poly(A)尾中发挥关键的作用,还参与DNA损伤、非编码RNA的加工成熟以及肿瘤等疾病过程. PARN是一种多功能酶分子,本文就PARN发现、结构、催化机制和功能多样性进行综述.     

前体mRNA的选择性多聚腺苷酸化与人类疾病

真核细胞的前体mRNA必须经过复杂的加工过程才能成熟,包括5’端加帽、剪接和3’端加工,其中3’加工包括3’端的切割和多聚腺苷酸化.该过程由前体mRNA上的顺式作用元件以及多个蛋白质因子控制.组成哺乳动物前体mRNA3’端加工机器的核心蛋白质复合体有切割和多聚腺苷酸化特异性因子、切割刺激因子、切割因子Ⅰ和切割因子Ⅱ.其他因子包括poly(A)聚合酶、poly(A)结合蛋白、偶对蛋白(symplekin)等.哺乳动物基因通常含有多个ploy(A)位点,选择性多聚腺苷酸化不仅可产生具有不同长度3’UTR的mRNA异构体,还可能改变基因的CDS区.作为真核生物基因表达调控的关键机制,选择性多聚腺苷酸化在细胞生长、增殖和分化中起着重要作用.本文综述了哺乳动物前体mRNA的3’端加工过程,3’端加工机器的组成及功能,探讨了选择性多聚腺苷酸化在多种人类疾病中的作用机制,以期为读者带来一些新的见解.     

真核细胞中mRNA降解机制研究进展

真核细胞中mRNA的半寿期差异明显，mRNA的降解是基因表达过程中一个重要的步骤，现已肯定在真核细胞中至少存在3种mRNA降解方式，即依赖于脱腺苷酸的降解，无义密码介导的mRNA的降解和核酸内切酶的水解。其中依赖于脱腺苷酸的降解是细胞内大部分mRNA降解的主要途径。另外，mRNA的稳定性还受多种因素影响，现已发现许多影响mRNA稳定性的“顺式因子”和“反式因子”。此外，mRNA降解可能与某些疾病的发生有关。     

尿苷酸化：一种重要的细胞内RNA监控方式

RNA尿苷酸化作为一种高效的转录后基因调控方式，几乎存在于所有的真核生物中。末端尿苷酸转移酶(terminal uridylyltransferase, TUTase)负责催化生物体内snRNA、miRNA、mRNA和其他ncRNA的单尿苷酸化(monouridylation)和寡尿苷酸化(oligouridylation)。研究表明，对非编码RNA中间产物的单尿苷酸化可以改变其最终产物和生成速度，而寡尿苷酸化常用于时空特异性降解特定RNA、清除质量异常的RNA和病毒RNA。尿苷酸化通过这两种方式调控RNA的生成和降解，进而影响生物的生殖和早期发育、细胞凋亡、肿瘤发生以及病毒感染等多个重要的生物过程。本文对尿苷酸化的现有研究成果进行综述，介绍了RNA 3′末端检测技术，重点阐述了尿苷酸化调控基因表达的分子机制和其在RNA监控以及多种生物过程中的关键性作用，最后讨论了待解决的科学问题和未来研究的重要方向，旨在为抗病毒和抗肿瘤的临床治疗提供新思路。     

RNA结合蛋白PABPC1的功能及生物学作用

多聚腺苷酸结合蛋白(poly (A) binding protein,PABP)家族通常被认为是mRNA poly (A)尾的一种保护屏障.其中细胞质多聚腺苷酸结合蛋白1 (cytoplasmic poly (A) binding protein-1,PABPC1)在高亲和力作用下能够与mRNA中富含腺苷酸的序列结合,在基因转录后调控中发挥着重要作用.同时PABPC1还参与mRNA的许多代谢通路,包括腺苷酸多聚化/脱腺苷酸化、m RNA转运、m RNA翻译、降解及mircoRNA相关调控.近年来关于PABPC1与生殖细胞的发育、心肌肥大和肿瘤的发生发展的报道屡见不鲜,可见PABPC1与细胞的生长发育有密切联系.本文将主要介绍PABPC1的结构、表达调控、功能及其生物学作用.     

3'-端尿苷酸化引发RNA降解的机制

RNA末端的转录后修饰对其稳定性影响较大.最近研究发现,3'-末端无需模板的添加尿苷酸(尿苷酸化),可能是真核生物RNA的一种普遍存在的转录后修饰方式.借此形成的1个RNA降解的分子标记,引发多种RNA降解,如小RNA或其前体、mRNA或mRNA被RNA诱导沉默复合体内切后的上游片段及其组蛋白mRNA等.某些情况下,尿苷酸化的RNA被1种新发现的外切核酸酶Dis3L2特异降解,推测Dis3L2可能代表了真核生物RNA 3'→5'方向独立于外切体之外的一种新的降解途径.此外,尿苷酸化在RNA代谢中可能具有重要的功能,如果发生异常会导致多种人类疾病,如癌症和Perlman综合征等.本文综述了尿苷酸化引发RNA降解的几种方式,有助于进一步了解RNA降解的机制及其生物学意义.     

真核生物核酸外切体(exosome)的研究进展

RNA的加工和降解是调控基因时空表达的重要步骤,在调节生物体的生长和发育过程中起着至关重要的作用.几乎所有的RNA都是从一条长的前体加工处理而来,形成成熟的RNA发挥功能,之后进行降解.RNA的降解需要5′-3′核酸外切酶、3′-5′核酸外切酶及核酸内切酶的参与.在真核细胞中,部分3′-5′核酸外切酶所进行的RNA降解依赖于一种称为核酸外切体(exosome)的复合物.该复合物由9个核心蛋白亚基组成,已有的证据表明,其广泛参与了动物、酵母及植物体中多种RNA的加工和降解过程.本文综述了真核生物中核酸外切体的研究进展,讨论了该复合体在RNA加工降解过程中的作用机制.     

核不均一性核糖核蛋白在RNA加工过程中的作用

在真核细胞中,初始转录产物（前体mRNA）经过一系列复杂的转录后加工过程形成成熟的mRNA.在这一过程中,大量蛋白质和加工因子有序汇集在核糖核蛋白复合体中并参与对前体RNA的加工过程. 该复合体中的蛋白质部分主要由一类约20种称为核不均一性核糖核蛋白的多肽分子构成.除了早期了解的一些结构性功能外,近来已有许多证据显示这些蛋白质在细胞中RNA的代谢及其他活动方面具有更加广泛和积极的作用.     

真核生物细胞中无终止密码mRNA的降解

2002年,Frischmeyer和Hoof等人发现真核生物细胞中具有一种新的mRNA监视机制——无终止密码mRNA降解途径,与正常mRNA和无义mRNA降解途径不同,无终止密码mRNA是在外切酶体介导作用下快速脱腺苷并进行3’→5’方向的水解。本对无终止密码mRNA降解途径的研究现状做一简要介绍。     

Human Pumilio Proteins Recruit Multiple Deadenylases to Efficiently Repress Messenger RNAs

PUF proteins are a conserved family of eukaryotic RNA-binding proteins that regulate specific mRNAs: they control many processes including stem cell proliferation, fertility, and memory formation. PUFs repress protein expression from their target mRNAs but the mechanism by which they do so remains unclear, especially for humans. Humans possess two PUF proteins, PUM1 and PUM2, which exhibit similar RNA binding specificities. Here we report new insights into their regulatory activities and mechanisms of action. We developed functional assays to measure sequence-specific repression by PUM1 and PUM2. Both robustly inhibit translation and promote mRNA degradation. Purified PUM complexes were found to contain subunits of the CCR4-NOT (CNOT) complex, which contains multiple enzymes that catalyze mRNA deadenylation. PUMs interact with the CNOT deadenylase subunits in vitro. We used three approaches to determine the importance of deadenylases for PUM repression. First, dominant-negative mutants of CNOT7 and CNOT8 reduced PUM repression. Second, RNA interference depletion of the deadenylases alleviated PUM repression. Third, the poly(A) tail was necessary for maximal PUM repression. These findings demonstrate a conserved mechanism of PUF-mediated repression via direct recruitment of the CCR4-POP2-NOT deadenylase leading to translational inhibition and mRNA degradation. A second, deadenylation independent mechanism was revealed by the finding that PUMs repress an mRNA that lacks a poly(A) tail. Thus, human PUMs are repressors capable of deadenylation-dependent and -independent modes of repression.     

CUG-BP binds to RNA substrates and recruits PARN deadenylase

CUG-BP is the human homolog of the Xenopus EDEN-BP, which was shown previously to bind to mRNAs, such as c-mos, that exhibit rapid deadenylation following fertilization of the oocyte. While several studies have focused on roles of CUG-BP as a splicing or translation regulator in mammalian cells, its role in mRNA decay has not been examined in detail. Here, we have used an in vitro deadenylation assay to dissect the function of CUG-BP in the decay of two ARE-containing mRNAs: c-fos and TNFalpha. CUG-BP binds specifically to both of these RNAs and stimulates poly(A) shortening by PARN. Moreover, CUG-BP interacts with PARN in extracts by coimmunoprecipitation, and this interaction can be recapitulated using recombinant proteins. CUG-BP, therefore, is the first RNA-binding protein shown to directly recruit a deadenylase to an RNA substrate.     

A deadenylase assay by size-exclusion chromatography

The shortening of the 3'-end poly(A) tail, also called deadenylation, is crucial to the regulation of mRNA processing, transportation, translation and degradation. The deadenylation process is achieved by deadenylases, which specifically catalyze the removal of the poly(A) tail at the 3'-end of eukaryotic mRNAs and release 5'-AMP as the product. To achieve their physiological functions, all deadenylases have numerous binding partners that may regulate their catalytic properties or recruit them into various protein complexes. To study the effects of various partners, it is important to develop new deadenylase assay that can be applied either in vivo or in vitro. In this research, we developed the deadenylase assay by the size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) method. The SEC analysis indicated that the poly(A) or oligo(A) substrate and the product AMP could be successfully separated and quantified. The enzymatic parameters of deadenylase could be obtained by quantifying the AMP generation. When using the commercial poly(A) as the substrate, a biphasic catalytic process was observed, which might correlate to the two distinct states of poly(A) in the commercial samples. Different lots of commercial poly(A) had dissimilar size distributions and were dissimilar in response to the degradation of deadenylase. The deadenylation pattern, processive or distributive, could also be investigated using the SEC assay by monitoring the status of the substrate and the generation kinetics of AMP and A2. The SEC assay was applicable to both simple samples using the purified enzyme and complex enzyme reaction conditions such as using protein mixtures or crude cell extracts as samples. The influence of solutes with absorption at 254 nm could be successfully eliminated by constructing the different SEC profiles.     

MAPKAP Kinase 2 Blocks Tristetraprolin-directed mRNA Decay by Inhibiting CAF1 Deadenylase Recruitment

Tristetraprolin (TTP) directs its target AU-rich element (ARE)-containing mRNAs for degradation by promoting removal of the poly(A) tail. The p38 MAPK pathway regulates mRNA stability via the downstream kinase MAPK-activated protein kinase 2 (MAPKAP kinase 2 or MK2), which phosphorylates and prevents the mRNA-destabilizing function of TTP. We show that deadenylation of endogenous ARE-containing tumor necrosis factor mRNA is inhibited by p38 MAPK. To investigate whether phosphorylation of TTP by MK2 regulates TTP-directed deadenylation of ARE-containing mRNAs, we used a cell-free assay that reconstitutes the mechanism in vitro. We find that phosphorylation of Ser-52 and Ser-178 of TTP by MK2 results in inhibition of TTP-directed deadenylation of ARE-containing RNA. The use of 14-3-3 protein antagonists showed that regulation of TTP-directed deadenylation by MK2 is independent of 14-3-3 binding to TTP. To investigate the mechanism whereby TTP promotes deadenylation, it was necessary to identify the deadenylases involved. The carbon catabolite repressor protein (CCR)4·CCR4-associated factor (CAF)1 complex was identified as the major source of deadenylase activity in HeLa cells responsible for TTP-directed deadenylation. CAF1a and CAF1b were found to interact with TTP in an RNA-independent fashion. We find that MK2 phosphorylation reduces the ability of TTP to promote deadenylation by inhibiting the recruitment of CAF1 deadenylase in a mechanism that does not involve sequestration of TTP by 14-3-3. Cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA stability is increased in CAF1-depleted cells in which it is no longer p38 MAPK/MK2-regulated.     

Translational Repression by Deadenylases

The CCR4-CAF1-NOT complex is a major cytoplasmic deadenylation complex in yeast and mammals. This complex associates with RNA-binding proteins and microRNAs to repress translation of target mRNAs. We sought to determine how CCR4 and CAF1 participate in repression and control of maternal mRNAs using Xenopus laevis oocytes. We show that Xenopus CCR4 and CAF1 enzymes are active deadenylases and repress translation of an adenylated mRNA. CAF1 also represses translation independent of deadenylation. The deadenylation-independent repression requires a 5′ cap structure on the mRNA; however, deadenylation does not. We suggest that mere recruitment of CAF1 is sufficient for repression, independent of deadenylation.     

The interactions of GW182 proteins with PABP and deadenylases are required for both translational repression and degradation of miRNA targets

Animal miRNAs silence the expression of mRNA targets through translational repression, deadenylation and subsequent mRNA degradation. Silencing requires association of miRNAs with an Argonaute protein and a GW182 family protein. In turn, GW182 proteins interact with poly(A)-binding protein (PABP) and the PAN2–PAN3 and CCR4–NOT deadenylase complexes. These interactions are required for the deadenylation and decay of miRNA targets. Recent studies have indicated that miRNAs repress translation before inducing target deadenylation and decay; however, whether translational repression and deadenylation are coupled or represent independent repressive mechanisms is unclear. Another remaining question is whether translational repression also requires GW182 proteins to interact with both PABP and deadenylases. To address these questions, we characterized the interaction of Drosophila melanogaster GW182 with deadenylases and defined the minimal requirements for a functional GW182 protein. Functional assays in D. melanogaster and human cells indicate that miRNA-mediated translational repression and degradation are mechanistically linked and are triggered through the interactions of GW182 proteins with PABP and deadenylases.     

Poly(A) and translation: development control

The stage-specific translational control of maternal mRNAs is determined by their differential polyadenylation and deadenylation. In the past year, a growing number of cis-acting elements that both positively and negatively regulate polyadenylation and deadenylation have been delineated. Considerable progress has been made on the biochemical characterization and regulation of trans-acting polyadenylation and deadenylation factors. This review summarizes these advances and their relevance to the roles of polyadenylation and deadenylation in translational control.     

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ngl3p is an active 3'-5' exonuclease with a specificity towards poly-A RNA reminiscent of cellular deadenylases

Deadenylation is the first and rate-limiting step during turnover of mRNAs in eukaryotes. In the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, two distinct 3'-5' exonucleases, Pop2p and Ccr4p, have been identified within the Ccr4-NOT deadenylase complex, belonging to the DEDD and Exonuclease-Endonuclease-Phosphatase (EEP) families, respectively. Ngl3p has been identified as a new member of the EEP family of exonucleases based on sequence homology, but its activity and biological roles are presently unknown. Here, we show using in vitro deadenylation assays on defined RNA species mimicking poly-A containing mRNAs that yeast Ngl3p is a functional 3'-5' exonuclease most active at slightly acidic conditions. We further show that the enzyme depends on divalent metal ions for activity and possesses specificity towards poly-A RNA similar to what has been observed for cellular deadenylases. The results suggest that Ngl3p is naturally involved in processing of poly-adenylated RNA and provide insights into the mechanistic variations observed among the redundant set of EEP enzymes found in yeast and higher eukaryotes.     

PUF proteins bind Pop2p to regulate messenger RNAs

PUF proteins, a family of RNA-binding proteins, interact with the 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) of specific mRNAs to control their translation and stability. PUF protein action is commonly correlated with removal of the poly(A) tail of target mRNAs. Here, we focus on how PUF proteins enhance deadenylation and mRNA decay. We show that a yeast PUF protein physically binds Pop2p, which is a component of the Ccr4p-Pop2p-Not deadenylase complex, and that Pop2p is required for PUF repression activity. By binding Pop2p, the PUF protein simultaneously recruits the Ccr4p deadenylase and two other enzymes involved in mRNA regulation, Dcp1p and Dhh1p. We reconstitute regulated deadenylation in vitro and demonstrate that the PUF-Pop2p interaction is conserved in yeast, worms and humans. We suggest that the PUF-Pop2p interaction underlies regulated deadenylation, mRNA decay and repression by PUF proteins.