A single C. elegans PUF protein binds RNA in multiple modes

  1. Yvonne Yiling Koh1,2,
  2. Laura Opperman1,4,
  3. Craig Stumpf1,
  4. Arpita Mandan1,5,
  5. Sunduz Keles3 and
  6. Marvin Wickens1
  1. 1Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
  2. 2Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
  3. 3Departments of Statistics and Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA

    Abstract

    PUF proteins specifically bind mRNAs to regulate their stability and translation. Here we focus on the RNA-binding specificity of a C. elegans PUF protein, PUF-11. Our findings reveal that PUF-11 binds RNA in multiple modes, in which the protein can accommodate variable spacings between two distinct recognition elements. We propose a structural model in which flexibility in the central region of the protein enables the protein to adopt at least two distinct structures, one of which results in base flipping.

    Keywords

    Footnotes

    • ↵4 Present addresses: Department of Genetics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA

    • ↵5 Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Kalyanpur, India 208016.

    • Reprint requests to: Marvin Wickens, Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA; e-mail: wickens{at}biochem.wisc.edu; fax: (608) 262-9108.

    • Article published online ahead of print. Article and publication date are at http://www.rnajournal.org/cgi/doi/10.1261/rna.1545309.

      • Received January 7, 2009.
      • Accepted March 2, 2009.
    | Table of Contents

    This Article

    1. Published in Advance April 15, 2009, doi: 10.1261/rna.1545309 RNA 15: 1090-1099 Copyright © 2009 RNA Society

    Article Category

    Share

    Current Issue

    1. August 2026, 32 (8)
    1. Current Issue
    1. Alert me to new issues of RNA