title: Accurate enzymatic cleavage in vitro of a 2'-deoxyribose-substituted ribonuclease III processing signal.
abstract: To assess the involvement of the RNA cleavage site-proximal 2' hydroxyl group in the RNase III catalytic mechanism, a specific processing substrate was chemically synthesized to contain a 2'-deoxyribose residue at the scissile phosphodiester bond. The RNA substrate, corresponding to the phage T7 R1.1 primary processing signal, can be accurately cleaved in vitro by RNase III. A fully deoxyribose-substituted R1.1 processing signal is not cleaved by RNase III, nor does it in excess inhibit cleavage of unmodified substrate. These results show that the 2' hydroxyl group proximal to the scissile bond is not an essential participant in the RNase III processing reaction; however, other 2' hydroxyl groups are important for substrate reactivity, and may be involved in establishing proper double helical conformation, and/or specific substrate contacts with RNase III.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202.
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Nicholson
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002384:Catalysis; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004722:Endoribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D043244:Ribonuclease III; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D013604:T-Phages / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004722:Endoribonucleases; D043244:Ribonuclease III