Meyer Mélanie, Masquida Benoît
GMGM UMR 7156, IPCB, CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
Methods Mol Biol. 2014;1086:21-40. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-667-2_2.
RNA-mediated biological processes usually require precise definition of 5' and 3' ends. RNA ends obtained by in vitro transcription using T7 RNA polymerase are often heterogeneous in length and sequence. An efficient strategy to overcome these drawbacks consists of inserting an RNA with known boundaries in between two ribozymes, usually a 5' hammerhead and a 3' hepatitis delta virus ribozymes, that cleave off the desired RNA. In practice, folding of the three RNAs challenges each other, potentially preventing thorough processing. Folding and cleavage of the 5' hammerhead ribozyme relies on a sequence of nucleotides belonging to the central RNA making it more sensitive than the usual 3' hepatitis delta virus ribozyme. The intrinsic stability of the central RNA may thus prevent correct processing of the full transcript. Here, we present a method in which incorporation of a full-length hammerhead ribozyme with a specific tertiary interaction prevents alternative folding with the lariat capping GIR1 ribozyme and enables complete cleavage in the course of the transcription. This strategy may be transposable for in vitro transcription of any highly structured RNA.
RNA介导的生物学过程通常需要精确界定5'端和3'端。使用T7 RNA聚合酶通过体外转录获得的RNA末端在长度和序列上往往是异质的。克服这些缺点的一种有效策略是在两个核酶之间插入一个具有已知边界的RNA,这两个核酶通常是一个5'锤头状核酶和一个3'丁型肝炎病毒核酶,它们会切割掉所需的RNA。在实际操作中,这三种RNA的折叠相互影响,可能会阻碍彻底的加工过程。5'锤头状核酶的折叠和切割依赖于属于中央RNA的一段核苷酸序列,这使得它比常见的3'丁型肝炎病毒核酶更敏感。中央RNA的内在稳定性可能因此会阻止完整转录本的正确加工。在此,我们提出一种方法,即掺入具有特定三级相互作用的全长锤头状核酶,可防止与套索帽GIR1核酶发生替代性折叠,并能在转录过程中实现完全切割。这种策略可能适用于任何高度结构化RNA的体外转录。