Nozawa Yuri, Hagihara Megumi, Matsumura Shigeyoshi, Ikawa Yoshiya
Department of Chemistry Graduate School of Science and Engineering University of Toyama Gofuku 3190, Toyama, Japan.
Department of Chemistry Graduate School of Science and Engineering University of Toyama Gofuku 3190, Toyama, Japan;, Email:
Chimia (Aarau). 2018 Dec 19;72(12):882-887. doi: 10.2533/chimia.2018.882.
Ribonuclease P (RNase P) is a class of enzymes involved in the processing of precursor tRNAs to remove their 5'-leader sequences. Ribonuclease P enzymes are classified into two completely distinct classes, an RNA-based enzyme and a protein-only enzyme. The RNA-based enzyme functions as a ribozyme in which the catalytic machinery is supported by its RNA component consisting of a single RNA molecule. Bacterial RNase P RNAs are a classical class of ribozymes and their structures and catalytic mechanisms have been studied extensively. The bacterial RNase P ribozyme has a modular tertiary structure consisting of two large domains, each of which can self-fold without the partner domain. Such modular architecture, identification of which provided important insight into the function of this ribozyme, is attractive as a structural platform to design functional RNA nanostructures. The first section of this article briefly summarizes the diversity of RNase P mainly focusing on RNA-based enzymes. The second section describes the structures of bacterial RNase P ribozymes from the viewpoint of their application as modular tools in RNA nanostructure design. The last section summarizes the current state and next steps in modular engineering of RNase P RNAs, including possible design of RNase P ribozyme-based nanostructures.
核糖核酸酶P（RNase P）是一类参与前体tRNA加工以去除其5'端前导序列的酶。核糖核酸酶P酶分为两个完全不同的类别，即基于RNA的酶和仅由蛋白质组成的酶。基于RNA的酶作为一种核酶发挥作用，其催化机制由其由单个RNA分子组成的RNA组分支持。细菌RNase P RNA是一类经典的核酶，其结构和催化机制已得到广泛研究。细菌RNase P核酶具有由两个大结构域组成的模块化三级结构，每个结构域无需与其配对结构域即可自我折叠。这种模块化结构的识别为该核酶的功能提供了重要见解，作为设计功能性RNA纳米结构的结构平台很有吸引力。本文的第一部分简要总结了RNase P的多样性，主要侧重于基于RNA的酶。第二部分从细菌RNase P核酶作为RNA纳米结构设计中的模块化工具的应用角度描述了其结构。最后一部分总结了RNase P RNA模块化工程的现状和下一步，包括基于RNase P核酶的纳米结构的可能设计。
