Bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) is an RNA-synthesizing molecular machine and a target for antibiotics. In transcription, RNAP can interact with DNA sequence-specifically, during promoter recognition ...by the σ-containing holoenzyme, or nonspecifically, during productive RNA elongation by the core RNAP. We describe high-affinity single-stranded DNA aptamers that are specifically recognized by the core RNAP from Thermus aquaticus. The aptamers interact with distinct epitopes inside the RNAP main channel, including the rifamycin pocket, and sense the binding of other RNAP ligands such as rifamycin and the σA subunit. The aptamers inhibit RNAP activity and can thus be used for functional studies of transcription and development of novel RNAP inhibitors.
•ssDNA aptamers recognize specific epitopes of Thermus aquaticus core RNA polymerase.•Aptamers sense RNA polymerase interactions with transcription factors and antibiotics.•Aptamers inhibit transcriptional activity of the RNA polymerase core enzyme.
Precise transcription by cellular RNA polymerase requires the efficient removal of noncognate nucleotide residues that are occasionally incorporated. Mis-incorporation causes the transcription ...elongation complex to backtrack, releasing a single strand 3′-RNA segment bearing a noncognate residue, which is hydrolyzed by the active center that carries two Mg2+ ions. However, in most x-ray structures only one Mg2+ is present. This Mg2+ is tightly bound to the active center aspartates, creating an inactive stable state. The first residue of the single strand RNA segment in the backtracked transcription elongation complex strongly promotes transcript hydrolytic cleavage by establishing a network of interactions that force a shift of stably bound Mg2+ to release some of its aspartate coordination valences for binding to the second Mg2+ thus enabling catalysis. Such a rearrangement that we call active center tuning (ACT) occurs when all recognition contacts of the active center-bound RNA segment are established and verified by tolerance to stress. Transcription factor Gre builds on the ACT mechanism in the same reaction by increasing the retention of the second Mg2+ and by activating the attacking water, causing 3000–4000-fold reaction acceleration and strongly reinforcing proofreading. The unified mechanism for RNA synthesis and degradation by RNA polymerase predicts that ACT also executes NTP selection thereby contributing to high transcription fidelity.
The trigger loop (TL) in the RNA polymerase (RNAP) active center plays key roles in the reactions of nucleotide addition and RNA cleavage catalyzed by RNAP. The adjacent F loop (FL) was proposed to ...contribute to RNAP catalysis by modulating structural changes in the TL. Here, we investigate the interplay between these two elements during transcription by bacterial RNAP. Thermodynamic analysis of catalysis by RNAP variants with mutations in the TL and FL suggests that the TL is the key element required for temperature activation in RNAP catalysis, and that the FL promotes TL transitions during nucleotide addition. We reveal characteristic differences in the catalytic parameters between thermophilic Thermus aquaticus and mesophilic Deinococcus radiodurans RNAPs and identify the FL as an adaptable element responsible for the observed differеnces. Mutations in the FL also significantly affect the rate of intrinsic RNA cleavage in a TL-dependent manner. In contrast, much weaker effects of the FL and TL mutations on GreA-assisted RNA cleavage suggest that the FL-dependent TL transitions are not required for this reaction. Thus, functional interplay between the FL and TL is essential for various catalytic activities of RNAP and plays an adaptive role in catalysis by thermophilic and mesophilic enzymes.
S531 of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase (RNAP) β subunit is a part of RNA binding domain in transcription complex. While highly conserved, S531 is not involved in interactions within the ...transcription complex as suggested by X-ray analysis. To understand the basis for S531 conservation we performed systematic mutagenesis of this residue. We find that the most of the mutations significantly decreased initiation-to-elongation transition by RNAP. Surprisingly, some changes enhanced the production of full-size transcripts by suppressing abortive loss of short RNAs. S531-R increased transcript retention by establishing a salt bridge with RNA, thereby explaining the R substitution at the equivalent position in extremophilic organisms, in which short RNAs retention is likely to be an issue. Generally, the substitutions had the same effect on bacterial doubling time when measured at 20°. Raising growth temperature to 37° ablated the positive influence of some mutations on the growth rate in contrast to their in vitro action, reflecting secondary effects of cellular environment on transcription and complex involvement of 531 locus in the cell biology. The properties of generated RNAP variants revealed an RNA/protein interaction network that is crucial for transcription, thereby explaining the details of initiation-to-elongation transition on atomic level.
The study’s objective is based on the disclosure of the specific comparative nature of the modern Russian legal system to substantiate the theoretical concept of its existence as a unique hybrid ...legal type as a symbiosis of the three legal traditions: Romano-Germanic, religious and socialist. The methodological basis of the study is the methodological and analytical range of methods presented in the article, known and proven ways and means of research in jurisprudence. To obtain reliable and well-founded conclusions, traditional general scientific and special research methods and descriptions of its results are used, mainly historical, comparative methods, a systematic approach, etc. The study result concluded that the formation of the main properties of the Russian legal system is associated with the goals and objectives that were assigned to it by the state and society in a particular historical period, which is why it is unique. The perception of specificity in implementing the classification of modern legal systems largely determines the justification of the criteria put forward. To determine the ways of further development in the twenty-first century, Russia’s legal system must still rely on its historical legal identity, taking into account the peculiarities of national culture. The novelty of this study is the resolution of a complex problem of theoretical and methodological order, namely: is it worth defining the underlying legal identity of the Russian legal system or is it enough to show its place on the “legal map of the world”, including it in a particular larger legal community?
Bacterial RNA polymerases (RNAPs) undergo coordinated conformational changes during catalysis. In particular, concerted folding of the trigger loop and rearrangements of the bridge helix at the RNAP ...active center have been implicated in nucleotide addition and RNAP translocation. At moderate temperatures, the rate of catalysis by RNAP from thermophilic Thermus aquaticus is dramatically reduced compared with its closest mesophilic relative, Deinococcus radiodurans. Here, we show that a part of this difference is conferred by a third element, the F loop, which is adjacent to the N terminus of the bridge helix and directly contacts the folded trigger loop. Substitutions of amino acid residues in the F loop and in an adjacent segment of the bridge helix in T. aquaticus RNAP for their D. radiodurans counterparts significantly increased the rate of catalysis (up to 40-fold at 20 °C). A deletion in the F loop dramatically impaired the rate of nucleotide addition and pyrophosphorolysis, but it had only a moderate effect on intrinsic RNA cleavage. Streptolydigin, an antibiotic that blocks folding of the trigger loop, did not inhibit nucleotide addition by the mutant enzyme. The resistance to streptolydigin likely results from the loss of its functional target, the folding of the trigger loop, which is already impaired by the F-loop deletion. Our results demonstrate that the F loop is essential for proper folding of the trigger loop during nucleotide addition and governs the temperature adaptivity of RNAPs in different bacteria.
A Structural Model of Transcription Elongation Korzheva, Nataliya; Mustaev, Arkady; Kozlov, Maxim ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
07/2000, Letnik:
289, Številka:
5479
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The path of the nucleic acids through a transcription elongation complex was tracked by mapping cross-links between bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) and transcript RNA or template DNA onto the x-ray ...crystal structure. In the resulting model, the downstream duplex DNA is nestled in a trough formed by the β′ subunit and enclosed on top by the β subunit. In the RNAP channel, the RNA/DNA hybrid extends from the enzyme active site, along a region of the β subunit harboring rifampicin resistance mutations, to the β′ subunit "rudder." The single-stranded RNA is then extruded through another channel formed by the β-subunit flap domain. The model provides insight into the functional properties of the transcription complex.
During transcription elongation, RNA polymerase (RNAP) occasionally loses its grip on the growing RNA end and backtracks on the DNA template. Prokaryotic Gre factors rescue the backtracked ternary ...elongating complex through stimulation of an intrinsic endonuclease activity, which removes the disengaged 3′RNA segment. By using RNA-protein crosslinking in defined ternary elongating complexes, site-directed mutagenesis, discriminative biochemical assays, and docking of the two protein structures, we show that Gre acts by providing two carboxylate residues for coordination of catalytic Mg2+ion in the RNAP active center. A similar mechanism is suggested for the functionally analogous eukaryotic SII factor. The results expand the general two-metal model of RNAP catalytic mechanism whereby one of the Mg2+ions is permanently retained, whereas the other is recruited ad hoc by an auxiliary factor.
Streptolydigin (Stl) is a potent inhibitor of bacterial RNA polymerases (RNAPs). The 2.4 Å resolution structure of the
Thermus thermophilus RNAP-Stl complex showed that, in full agreement with the ...available genetic data, the inhibitor binding site is located ∼20 Å away from the RNAP active site and encompasses the bridge helix and the trigger loop, two elements that are considered to be crucial for RNAP catalytic center function. Structure-based biochemical experiments revealed additional determinants of Stl binding and demonstrated that Stl does not affect NTP substrate binding, DNA translocation, and phosphodiester bond formation. The RNAP-Stl complex structure, its comparison with the closely related substrate bound eukaryotic transcription elongation complexes, and biochemical analysis suggest an inhibitory mechanism in which Stl stabilizes catalytically inactive (preinsertion) substrate bound transcription intermediate, thereby blocking structural isomerization of RNAP to an active configuration. The results provide a basis for a design of new antibiotics utilizing the Stl-like mechanism.
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