Publication Date:
2014-09-12
Description:
To prime reverse transcription, retroviruses require annealing of a transfer RNA molecule to the U5 primer binding site (U5-PBS) region of the viral genome. The residues essential for primer annealing are initially locked in intramolecular interactions; hence, annealing requires the chaperone activity of the retroviral nucleocapsid (NC) protein to facilitate structural rearrangements. Here we show that, unlike classical chaperones, the Moloney murine leukaemia virus NC uses a unique mechanism for remodelling: it specifically targets multiple structured regions in both the U5-PBS and tRNA(Pro) primer that otherwise sequester residues necessary for annealing. This high-specificity and high-affinity binding by NC consequently liberates these sequestered residues--which are exactly complementary--for intermolecular interactions. Furthermore, NC utilizes a step-wise, entropy-driven mechanism to trigger both residue-specific destabilization and residue-specific release. Our structures of NC bound to U5-PBS and tRNA(Pro) reveal the structure-based mechanism for retroviral primer annealing and provide insights as to how ATP-independent chaperones can target specific RNAs amidst the cellular milieu of non-target RNAs.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Miller, Sarah B -- Yildiz, F Zehra -- Lo, Jennifer A -- Wang, Bo -- D'Souza, Victoria M -- England -- Nature. 2014 Nov 27;515(7528):591-5. doi: 10.1038/nature13709. Epub 2014 Sep 7.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA [2] Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington DC 20057, USA. [3]. ; 1] Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA [2]. ; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25209668" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Animals
;
Cell Line
;
Genome, Viral/genetics
;
Humans
;
*Models, Molecular
;
*Moloney murine leukemia virus/chemistry/genetics
;
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular
;
*Nucleocapsid Proteins/chemistry/metabolism
;
Protein Binding
;
Protein Structure, Tertiary
;
*RNA, Transfer/chemistry/metabolism
;
RNA, Viral/*chemistry/*metabolism
;
Reverse Transcription/genetics/*physiology
Print ISSN:
0028-0836
Electronic ISSN:
1476-4687
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
