1r4k: Difference between revisions

[[Image:1r4k.gif|left|200px]]

'''Solution Structure of the Drosophila Argonaute 1 PAZ Domain'''

The discovery of RNA-mediated gene-silencing pathways, including RNA interference, highlights a fundamental role of short RNAs in eukaryotic gene regulation and antiviral defence. Members of the Dicer and Argonaute protein families are essential components of these RNA-silencing pathways. Notably, these two families possess an evolutionarily conserved PAZ (Piwi/Argonaute/Zwille) domain whose biochemical function is unknown. Here we report the nuclear magnetic resonance solution structure of the PAZ domain from Drosophila melanogaster Argonaute 1 (Ago1). The structure consists of a left-handed, six-stranded beta-barrel capped at one end by two alpha-helices and wrapped on one side by a distinctive appendage, which comprises a long beta-hairpin and a short alpha-helix. Using structural and biochemical analyses, we demonstrate that the PAZ domain binds a 5-nucleotide RNA with 1:1 stoichiometry. We map the RNA-binding surface to the open face of the beta-barrel, which contains amino acids conserved within the PAZ domain family, and we define the 5'-to-3' orientation of single-stranded RNA bound within that site. Furthermore, we show that PAZ domains from different human Argonaute proteins also bind RNA, establishing a conserved function for this domain.

1R4K is a [[Single protein]] structure of sequence from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosophila_melanogaster Drosophila melanogaster]. Full crystallographic information is available from [http://oca.weizmann.ac.il/oca-bin/ocashort?id=1R4K OCA].  

''Page seeded by [http://oca.weizmann.ac.il/oca OCA ] on Sat May  3 07:03:57 2008''