Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA.
Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047, USA.
RNA. 2024 Jul 16;30(8):1070-1088. doi: 10.1261/rna.079917.123.
The recognition of the 5' splice site (5' ss) is one of the earliest steps of pre-mRNA splicing. To better understand, the mechanism and regulation of 5' ss recognition, we selectively humanized components of the yeast U1 (yU1) snRNP to reveal the function of these components in 5' ss recognition and splicing. We targeted U1C and Luc7, two proteins that interact with and stabilize the yU1 snRNA and the 5' ss RNA duplex. We replaced the zinc-finger (ZnF) domain of yeast U1C (yU1C) with its human counterpart, which resulted in a cold-sensitive growth phenotype and moderate splicing defects. We next added an auxin-inducible degron to yeast Luc7 (yLuc7) protein (to mimic the lack of Luc7Ls in human U1 snRNP). We found that Luc7-depleted yU1 snRNP resulted in the concomitant loss of Prp40 and Snu71 (two other essential yU1 snRNP proteins), and further biochemical analyses suggest a model of how these three proteins interact with each other in the U1 snRNP. The loss of these proteins resulted in a significant growth retardation accompanied by a global suppression of pre-mRNA splicing. The splicing suppression led to mitochondrial dysfunction as revealed by a release of Fe into the growth medium and an induction of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species. Together, these observations indicate that the human U1C ZnF can substitute that of yeast, Luc7 is essential for the incorporation of the Luc7-Prp40-Snu71 trimer into yU1 snRNP, and splicing plays a major role in the regulation of mitochondrial function in yeast.
5' 剪接位点(5' ss)的识别是前体 mRNA 剪接的最早步骤之一。为了更好地理解 5' ss 识别的机制和调控,我们选择性地将酵母 U1(yU1)snRNP 的成分人源化,以揭示这些成分在 5' ss 识别和剪接中的功能。我们针对与 yU1 snRNA 和 5' ss RNA 双链相互作用并稳定其结构的两种蛋白 U1C 和 Luc7 进行了靶向研究。我们用其人类对应物替换了酵母 U1C(yU1C)的锌指(ZnF)结构域,导致其表现出冷敏感生长表型和中度剪接缺陷。接下来,我们在酵母 Luc7(yLuc7)蛋白中添加了一个植物生长素诱导的降解结构域(以模拟人类 U1 snRNP 中缺乏 Luc7Ls)。我们发现,Luc7 缺失的 yU1 snRNP 导致 Prp40 和 Snu71(另外两种必需的 yU1 snRNP 蛋白)同时丢失,进一步的生化分析提出了这三种蛋白在 U1 snRNP 中相互作用的模型。这些蛋白的丢失导致生长明显迟缓,并伴有前体 mRNA 剪接的全面抑制。剪接抑制导致线粒体功能障碍,表现在生长介质中 Fe 的释放和线粒体活性氧的诱导。总之,这些观察结果表明,人源 U1C ZnF 可以替代酵母的,Luc7 对于 Luc7-Prp40-Snu71 三聚体掺入 yU1 snRNP 是必需的,剪接在酵母中线粒体功能的调控中起着主要作用。