Structural Cell Biology Department, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany.
FEBS J. 2015 Mar;282(5):850-63. doi: 10.1111/febs.13198. Epub 2015 Feb 4.
RNA helicases are present in all domains of life and participate in almost all aspects of RNA metabolism, from transcription and processing to translation and decay. The diversity of pathways and substrates that they act on is reflected in the diversity of their individual functions, structures, and mechanisms. However, RNA helicases also share hallmark properties. At the functional level, they promote rearrangements of RNAs and RNP particles by coupling nucleic acid binding and release with ATP hydrolysis. At the molecular level, they contain two domains homologous to the bacterial RecA recombination protein. This conserved catalytic core is flanked by additional domains, which typically regulate the ATPase activity in cis. Binding to effector proteins targets or regulates the ATPase activity in trans. Structural and biochemical studies have converged on the plasticity of RNA helicases as a fundamental property that is used to control their timely activation in the cell. In this review, we focus on the conformational regulation of conserved eukaryotic RNA helicases.
RNA 解旋酶存在于所有生命领域，参与 RNA 代谢的几乎所有方面，从转录和加工到翻译和降解。它们作用的途径和底物的多样性反映在它们各自功能、结构和机制的多样性上。然而，RNA 解旋酶也具有共同的特征。在功能水平上，它们通过将核酸结合和释放与 ATP 水解偶联，促进 RNA 和 RNP 颗粒的重排。在分子水平上，它们包含两个与细菌 RecA 重组蛋白同源的结构域。这个保守的催化核心被额外的结构域包围，这些结构域通常在顺式中调节 ATP 酶活性。与效应蛋白的结合靶向或调节反式中的 ATP 酶活性。结构和生化研究都集中在 RNA 解旋酶的可塑性上，认为这是一种基本特性，用于控制它们在细胞中的适时激活。在这篇综述中，我们重点关注保守的真核 RNA 解旋酶的构象调节。
