title: Crystal structure of a conserved ribosomal protein-RNA complex.
abstract: The structure of a highly conserved complex between a 58-nucleotide domain of large subunit ribosomal RNA and the RNA-binding domain of ribosomal protein L11 has been solved at 2.8 angstrom resolution. It reveals a precisely folded RNA structure that is stabilized by extensive tertiary contacts and contains an unusually large core of stacked bases. A bulge loop base from one hairpin of the RNA is intercalated into the distorted major groove of another helix; the protein locks this tertiary interaction into place by binding to the intercalated base from the minor groove side. This direct interaction with a key ribosomal RNA tertiary interaction suggests that part of the role of L11 is to stabilize an unusual RNA fold within the ribosome.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D020029:Base Pairing; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D020653:Peptide Elongation Factor G; D010445:Peptide Elongation Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism