Volume 26, No 12, Dec 2016
ISSN: 1001-0602
EISSN: 1748-7838 2018
impact factor 17.848*
(Clarivate Analytics, 2019)
Volume 26 Issue 12, December 2016: 1353-1356 | Open Access
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Structural basis for specific recognition of pre-snRNA by Gemin5
Xuhua Tang1, Sakshibeedu R Bharath1, Shunfu Piao1, Vanessa Qianmin Tan1, Matthew W Bowler2,3 and Haiwei Song1,4
1Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 61 Biopolis Drive, Proteos, Singapore 138673, Singapore
2European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Grenoble Outstation, 71 avenue des Martyrs, CS 90181 F-38042 Grenoble, France
3Unit of Virus Host-Cell Interactions, Univ. Grenoble Alpes-EMBL-CNRS, 71 avenue des Martyrs, CS 90181 F-38042 Grenoble, France
4Department of Biochemistry, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive, Singapore 117543, Singapore
Correspondence: Haiwei Song,(haiwei@imcb.a-star.edu.sg)
The survival of motor neurons (SMN) complex assembles the heptameric rings of Sm proteins (Sm core) on small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) to form small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles (snRNPs)1,2,3,4, the major components of the spliceosome5. The SMN complex consists of SMN, Unrip and Gemin2-86,7. SMN deficiency leads to correspondingly reduced snRNP assembly and is an underlying cause for spinal muscular atrophy, a common motor neuron degenerative disease8. The SMN complex functions to ensure Sm core assembly only on the correct snRNAs, therefore preventing aberrant Sm core formation. Such stringent specificity of the SMN complex toward snRNAs is conferred by Gemin5, which directly interacts with snRNA precursors (pre-snRNAs)9,10,11 and delivers them to sites of Sm core assembly and processing. Gemin5 recognizes the snRNP code comprised of the Sm site (AU5-6G) and an adjacent 3′-terminal stem loop via its N-terminal WD40 repeat domain (termed Gemin5-WD). Gemin5 also has been shown to bind the 7-methylguanosine (m7G) cap12 and to downregulate internal ribosome entry site-dependent translation13. Although the function of Gemin5 in the biogenesis of snRNPs has been explored, the molecular mechanism for specific recognition of pre-snRNAs by Gemin5 remains elusive.
10.1038/cr.2016.133
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