title: Analysis of the tertiary structure of the ribonuclease P ribozyme-substrate complex by site-specific photoaffinity crosslinking.
abstract: Bacterial ribonuclease P (RNase P), an endonuclease involved in tRNA maturation, is a ribonucleoprotein containing a catalytic RNA. The secondary structure of this ribozyme is well-established, and a low-resolution model of the three-dimensional structure of the ribozyme-substrate complex has been proposed based on site-specific crosslinking and phylogenetic comparative data [Harris ME et al., 1994 EMBO J 13:3953-3963]. However, several substructures of that model were poorly constrained by the available data. In the present analysis, additional constraints between elements within the Escherichia coli RNase P RNA-pre-tRNA complex were determined by intra- and intermolecular crosslinking experiments. Circularly permuted RNase P RNAs were used to position an azidophenacyl photoactive crosslinking agent specifically at strategic sites within the ribozyme-substrate complex. Crosslink sites were mapped by primer extension and confirmed by analysis of the mobility of the crosslinked RNA lariats on denaturing acrylamide gels relative to circular and linear RNA standards. Crosslinked species generally retained significant catalytic activity, indicating that the results reflect the native ribozyme structure. The crosslinking results support the general configuration of the structure model and predicate new positions and orientations for helices that were previously poorly constrained by the data set. The expanded library of crosslinking constraints was used, together with secondary and tertiary structure identified by phylogenetic sequence comparisons, to refine significantly the model of RNase P RNA with bound substrate pre-tRNA. The crosslinking results and data from chemical-modification and mutational studies are discussed in the context of the current structural perspective on this ribozyme.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4960, USA.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Kazantsev
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: N R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Pace
mesh_terms: D000345:Affinity Labels; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D004722:Endoribonucleases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000737:chemistry; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D006157:Guanosine Monophosphate / Q000737:chemistry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry; D012322:RNA Precursors / Q000737:chemistry*; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D016337:RNA, Catalytic / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D000079962:RNA, Circular; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000737:chemistry*; D043262:Ribonuclease P; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013873:Thionucleotides / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000345:Affinity Labels; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D012322:RNA Precursors; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D016337:RNA, Catalytic; D000079962:RNA, Circular; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins; D013873:Thionucleotides; D012313:RNA; C066524:guanosine 5'-monophosphorothioate; D006157:Guanosine Monophosphate; D012343:RNA, Transfer; D004722:Endoribonucleases; D043262:Ribonuclease P; C470865:ribonuclease P, E coli