A structural perspective of the protein–RNA interactions involved in virus-induced RNA silencing and its suppression

Small RNAs, including small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs) and Piwi-associated interfering RNAs (piRNAs), are powerful gene expression regulators. This RNA-mediated regulation results in sequence-specific inhibition of gene expression by translational repression and/or mRNA degradation. siRNAs and miRNAs are generated by RNase III enzymes and subsequently loaded into Argonaute protein, a key component of the RNA induced silencing complex (RISC), to form the core of the RNA silencing machinery. RNA silencing acts as an ancient cell defense system against molecular parasites, such as transgenes, viruses and transposons. RNA silencing also plays an important role in the control of development. In plants, RNA silencing serves as a potent antiviral defense system. In response, many viruses have developed strategies to suppress RNA silencing. The striking sequence diversity among viral suppressors suggests that different viral suppressors could target different components of the RNA silencing machinery at different steps in different suppressing modes. Significant progresses have been made in this field for the past 5 years on the basis of structural information derived from RNase III family proteins, Dicer fragments and homologs, Argonaute homologs and viral suppressors. In this paper, we will review the current progress on the understanding of molecular mechanisms of RNA silencing; highlight the structural principles determining the protein–RNA recognition events along the RNA silencing pathways and the suppression mechanisms displayed by viral suppressors.     

丝状真菌中的RNA干扰及其应用技术

RNA干扰是真核生物中相对保守的一种基因特录后表达调控机制,它通过双链RNA介导细胞内mRNA发生特异性降解或翻译抑制,从而调控靶基因的表达.对丝状真菌中RNA压制和减数分裂沉默等现象的研究表明,与动、植物一样,丝状真菌中也存在RNA干扰现象.通过对RNA压制缺失突变株和减教分裂沉默缺失突变株的一系列分子生物学研究,获得了与之密切相关的一系列蛋白,而这些蛋白在结构和功能上与动、植物RNA干扰途径的蛋白高度相似,这些结果证明了丝状真菌中的RNA存在干扰现象.RNA干扰技术作为丝状真菌分子生物学研究或遗传改造的工具具有特殊的意义,因为丝状真菌具有多核和发生非同源重组频率高的特点,难以用基因敲除手段进行改造.系统地介绍丝状真菌中的RNA干扰途径以及使用RNA干扰对真菌进行遗传改造的方法.     

抑制基因组转座子活性的小RNAs在生育调节中的作用

小RNAs可以在转录和转录后水平沉默转座子, 最近发现的几类小RNAs(piRNAs、endo-siRNAs)均具有抑制转座子活性的作用, 其中, 果蝇piRNAs、小鼠piRNAs、小鼠endo-siRNAs及其相关蛋白主要在生殖系表达, 说明小RNAs作用途径在生殖系转座子沉默中扮演着重要角色。最新的研究揭示了小RNAs、转座子沉默、生殖生育调节之间的联系, 然而其具体作用机制尚未得到阐明。文章综述了小RNAs对基因组转座子活性的控制及其在生育调节中的作用。     

Inputs and outputs for chromatin-targeted RNAi

Plant gene silencing is targeted to transposons and repeated sequences by small RNAs from the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. Like classical RNAi, RNA-directed chromatin silencing involves the cleavage of double-stranded RNA by Dicer endonucleases to create small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which bind to the Argonaute protein. The production of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) must be carefully controlled to prevent inappropriate silencing. A plant-specific RNA polymerase IV (Pol IV) initiates siRNA production at silent heterochromatin, but Pol IV-independent mechanisms for making dsRNA also exist. Downstream of siRNA biogenesis, multiple chromatin marks might be targeted by Argonaute-siRNA complexes, yet mechanisms of chromatin modification remain poorly understood. Genomic studies of siRNA target loci promise to reveal novel biological functions for chromatin-targeted RNAi.