Summary information and primary citation
- PDB-id
-
4phy;
SNAP-derived features in text and
JSON formats
- Class
- RNA
- Method
- X-ray (3.1 Å)
- Summary
- Functional conservation despite structural divergence
in ligand-responsive RNA switches
- Reference
-
Boerneke MA, Dibrov SM, Gu J, Wyles DL, Hermann T (2014):
"Functional
conservation despite structural divergence in
ligand-responsive RNA switches."
Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA, 111,
15952-15957. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1414678111.
- Abstract
- An internal ribosome entry site (IRES) initiates
protein synthesis in RNA viruses, including the hepatitis C
virus (HCV). We have discovered ligand-responsive
conformational switches in viral IRES elements. Modular RNA
motifs of greatly distinct sequence and local secondary
structure have been found to serve as functionally
conserved switches involved in viral IRES-driven
translation and may be captured by identical cognate
ligands. The RNA motifs described here constitute a new
paradigm for ligand-captured switches that differ from
metabolite-sensing riboswitches with regard to their small
size, as well as the intrinsic stability and structural
definition of the constitutive conformational states. These
viral RNA modules represent the simplest form of
ligand-responsive mechanical switches in nucleic
acids.
