State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Green Transformation of Bio-resources, Hubei Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China.
School of Pharmacy, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China.
Acta Biochim Biophys Sin (Shanghai). 2023 Jul 10;55(8):1204-1212. doi: 10.3724/abbs.2023110.
Argonaute (Ago) proteins are conserved programmable nucleases present in eukaryotes and prokaryotes and provide defense against mobile genetic elements. Almost all characterized pAgos prefer to cleave DNA targets. Here, we describe a novel pAgo from bacterium (VbAgo) that can specifically cleave RNA targets rather than DNA targets at 37°C and function as a multiple-turnover enzyme showing prominent catalytic capacity. VbAgo utilizes DNA guides (gDNAs) to cleave RNA targets at the canonical cleavage site. Meanwhile, the cleavage activity is remarkably strengthened at low concentrations of NaCl. In addition, VbAgo presents a weak tolerance for mismatches between gDNAs and RNA targets, and single-nucleotide mismatches at positions 11‒12 and dinucleotide mismatches at positions 3‒15 dramatically reduce target cleavage. Moreover, VbAgo can efficiently cleave highly structured RNA targets at 37°C. These properties of VbAgo broaden our understanding of Ago proteins and expand the pAgo-based RNA manipulation toolbox.
Argonaute (Ago) 蛋白是真核生物和原核生物中保守的可编程核酸内切酶,为抵御移动遗传元件提供了防御机制。几乎所有已鉴定的 pAgo 都倾向于切割 DNA 靶标。在这里,我们描述了一种来自 细菌(VbAgo)的新型 pAgo,它可以在 37°C 下特异性切割 RNA 靶标而不是 DNA 靶标,并作为一种多轮酶表现出显著的催化能力。VbAgo 利用 DNA 向导 (gDNAs) 在规范的切割位点切割 RNA 靶标。同时,在低浓度 NaCl 下,切割活性显著增强。此外,VbAgo 对 gDNAs 和 RNA 靶标之间的错配具有较弱的容忍度,位置 11-12 处的单核苷酸错配和位置 3-15 处的二核苷酸错配会大大降低靶标切割效率。此外,VbAgo 可以在 37°C 下有效地切割高度结构化的 RNA 靶标。VbAgo 的这些特性拓宽了我们对 Ago 蛋白的理解,并扩展了基于 pAgo 的 RNA 操作工具箱。