Abil Zhanar, Zhao Huimin
Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Mol Biosyst. 2015 Oct;11(10):2658-65. doi: 10.1039/c5mb00289c.
With the expanding interest in RNA biology, interest in artificial RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) is likewise increasing. RBPs can be designed in a modular fashion, whereby effector and RNA-binding domains are combined in chimeric proteins that exhibit both functions and can be applied for regulation of a broad range of biological processes. The elucidation of the RNA recognition code for Pumilio and fem-3 mRNA-binding factor (PUF) homology proteins allowed engineering of artificial RBPs for targeting endogenous mRNAs. In this review, we will focus on the recent advances in elucidating and reprogramming PUF domain specificity, update on several promising applications of PUF-based designer RBPs, and discuss some other domains that hold the potential to be used as the RNA-binding scaffolds for designer RBP engineering.
随着对RNA生物学的兴趣不断扩大，对人工RNA结合蛋白（RBP）的兴趣也在增加。RBP可以以模块化方式设计，效应器和RNA结合结构域在嵌合蛋白中结合，这些嵌合蛋白兼具两种功能，可用于调节广泛的生物学过程。对Pumilio和fem-3 mRNA结合因子（PUF）同源蛋白的RNA识别密码的阐明，使得能够设计靶向内源性mRNA的人工RBP。在本综述中，我们将重点关注在阐明和重新编程PUF结构域特异性方面的最新进展，介绍基于PUF的设计型RBP的一些有前景的应用，并讨论其他一些有潜力用作设计型RBP工程的RNA结合支架的结构域。
