Flipping riboswitches.
Riboswitches are common cis-acting regulatory elements in bacteria. They are made of nascent RNA that changes its conformation in response to direct binding of cognate metabolites. The publication of five high-resolution crystal structures provides a comprehensive view of how riboswitches sense their ligands and points to new challenges in this emerging field.
Nudler
Evgeny
E
Department of Biochemistry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA. evgeny.nudler@med.nyu.edu
D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray / Q000639:trends; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D008024:Ligands; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000639:trends; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D050436:Regulatory Elements, Transcriptional / Q000235:genetics*
D008024:Ligands; D012329:RNA, Bacterial