RNase P as hyperprocessing enzyme: a model for formation of a biologically functional tRNA fragment.
Hyperprocessing is defined as a further processing of mature RNA that produces another functional RNA. Hyperprocessing occurs in Drosophila cells. In the transposon copia-related retrovirus-like particles of Drosophila, a 39-nucleotide-long fragment from the 5'region of Drosophila initiator methionine tRNA is used as the primer for copia minus-strand reverse transcription. This primer tRNA fragment is thought to be produced by cleavage within the mature tRNA sequence. We found that the catalytic RNA subunit of RNase P catalyzes this hyperprocessing in vitro and that this cleavage is dependent of the occurrence of an altered conformation of the tRNA substrate. In this review, I will summarize our work from the finding of the functional RNA fragment to the finding of a dynamic tRNA structure.
Department of Ecological Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan.
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Kikuchi
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D004330:Drosophila; D004722:Endoribonucleases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012358:RNA, Transfer, Met / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D043262:Ribonuclease P
D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D012358:RNA, Transfer, Met; D012343:RNA, Transfer; D004722:Endoribonucleases; D043262:Ribonuclease P