Do nucleic acids moonlight as molecular chaperones?
Organisms use molecular chaperones to combat the unfolding and aggregation of proteins. While protein chaperones have been widely studied, here we demonstrate that DNA and RNA exhibit potent chaperone activity in vitro Nucleic acids suppress the aggregation of classic chaperone substrates up to 300-fold more effectively than the protein chaperone GroEL. Additionally, RNA cooperates with the DnaK chaperone system to refold purified luciferase. Our findings reveal a possible new role for nucleic acids within the cell: that nucleic acids directly participate in maintaining proteostasis by preventing protein aggregation.
Cellular and Molecular Biology Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Brianne E
0000-0002-6508-6015
BE
Docter
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Scott
S
Horowitz
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Michael J
MJ
Gray
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Ursula
U
Jakob
Cellular and Molecular Biology Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA jbardwel@umich.edu.
James C A
JC
Bardwell
D018834:Chaperonin 60 / Q000378:metabolism; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000378:metabolism; D066329:Protein Aggregates; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D058849:Protein Refolding; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism*
D018834:Chaperonin 60; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D066329:Protein Aggregates; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA