Cao Y, Woodson S A
Molecular and Cell Biology Program, University of Maryland, College Park 20742-2021, USA.
RNA. 1998 Aug;4(8):901-14. doi: 10.1017/s1355838298980621.
Self-splicing of the Tetrahymena group I intron is attenuated by an rRNA stem-loop in the 5' exon, which competes with formation of the P1 splice site helix. The equilibrium between the P1 and P(-1) stem-loops is influenced by rRNA sequences upstream and downstream of the intron. To investigate the mechanism of this conformational switch, internal deletions and point mutations were introduced in the second rRNA stem-loop upstream of the 5' splice site. Nuclease protection, native gel electrophoresis, and self-splicing results show that this helix is important for maintaining self-splicing activity. Co-axial base stacking of adjacent helices in the 5' exon is proposed to enable exchange between inactive and active conformations of the pre-rRNA.
嗜热四膜虫I组内含子的自我剪接受到5'外显子中rRNA茎环的抑制,该茎环与P1剪接位点螺旋的形成相互竞争。P1和P(-1)茎环之间的平衡受内含子上下游rRNA序列的影响。为了研究这种构象转换的机制,在5'剪接位点上游的第二个rRNA茎环中引入了内部缺失和点突变。核酸酶保护、天然凝胶电泳和自我剪接结果表明,该螺旋对于维持自我剪接活性很重要。有人提出,5'外显子中相邻螺旋的共轴碱基堆积能够使前体rRNA在无活性和活性构象之间进行转换。