title: Characterization of the direct physical interaction of nc886, a cellular non-coding RNA, and PKR.
abstract: We have recently shown that nc886 (pre-miR-886 or vtRNA2-1) is not a genuine microRNA precursor nor a vault RNA, but a novel type of non-coding RNA that represses PKR, a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) dependent kinase. Here we have characterized their direct physical association. PKR's two RNA binding domains form a specific and stable complex with nc886's central portion, without any preference to its 5'-end structure. By binding to PKR with a comparable affinity, nc886 competes with dsRNA and attenuates PKR activation by dsRNA. Our data suggest that nc886 sets a threshold for PKR activation so that it occurs only during genuine viral infection but not by a minute level of fortuitous cellular dsRNA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-1072, USA.
authors.forename: Sung Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Kwanbok
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kwang Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Nawapol
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kunkeaw
authors.forename: Betty H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Luis Marcelo F
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Holthauzen
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Chanvit
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leelayuwat
authors.forename: Yong Sun
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019892:eIF-2 Kinase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D022661:RNA, Untranslated; D019892:eIF-2 Kinase