Regulace sestřihu pre-mRNA v S. cerevisiae: kooperace RNA a proteinů.

Ondřej Gahura, PhD Thesis 2011 Regulation of pre-mRNA splicing in S. cerevisiae: where RNA cooperates with proteins Abstract Removal of introns from protein coding transcripts occurs in two splicing reactions catalyzed by a large nuclear complex, spliceosome. The spliceosome is an extremely intricate and dynamic machine, wherein contributions of small RNA molecules and multiple proteins are coordinated to meet the requirements of absolute precision and high flexibility. For an intimate understanding of pre-mRNA splicing, it is necessary to unravel roles of individual components and to dissect the partial mechanisms. In the first part of this work, we describe the role of the Prp45 splicing factor in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mapping of genetic interactions of a conditionally lethal allele prp45(1-169) suggests a relationship of Prp45 to the NTC complex and to the second transesterification. Two-hybrid assay and purification of spliceosomal complexes reveal a contribution of the Prp45 C-terminus in the Prp22 helicase recruitment and/or regulation. Numerous experiments with reporter substrates document the need of Prp45 for the efficient splicing of a specific subset of introns. Our observations suggest that the function of Prp45 in splicing is conserved in evolution. The second part is devoted to the role of...Ondřej Gahura, Dizertační práce 2011 Regulace sestřihu pre-mRNA v S. cerevisiae: kooperace RNA a proteinů Abstrakt Odstraňování intronů z transkriptů probíhá prostřednictvím sestřihu v reakci katalyzované velkým jaderným komplexem - spliceosomem. Sestřih je nesmírně komplikovaný a dynamický proces, v němž koordinované fungování pěti malých molekul RNA a řady proteinů zajišťuje splnění požadavků na extrémní přesnost a flexibilitu. Pro důkladné pochopení sestřihu pre-mRNA je nezbytné rozklíčovat role jednotlivých komponent spliceosomu a porozumět všem dílčím mechanismům. První část práce se zabývá rolí sestřihového faktoru Prp45 v kvasince Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mapování genetických interakcí alely prp45(1-169) ukazuje na vztah mezi Prp45, NTC komplexem a druhým sestřihovým krokem. Analýza interakcí pomocí dvouhybridního systému a purifikace sestřihových komplexů dokladuje roli C-koncové části Prp45 v regulaci a/nebo vyvazování helikázy Prp22 do spliceosomu. Experimenty s reportérovými substráty prokazují, že Prp45 je vyžadován pro efektivní sestřih určité skupiny intronů. Naše pozorování podporují hypotézu, že role Prp45 v sestřihu je konzervována v evoluci. Druhá část práce je věnována studiu vlivusekundárních struktur intronů na identifikaci 3' sestřihových míst (3' splice site; 3'ss). Ukázali jsme, že...Department of Cell BiologyKatedra buněčné biologieFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult

ATP synthase from Trypanosoma brucei has an elaborated canonical F1-domain and conventional catalytic sites.

The structures and functions of the components of ATP synthases, especially those subunits involved directly in the catalytic formation of ATP, are widely conserved in metazoans, fungi, eubacteria, and plant chloroplasts. On the basis of a map at 32.5-Å resolution determined in situ in the mitochondria of Trypanosoma brucei by electron cryotomography, it has been proposed that the ATP synthase in this species has a noncanonical structure and different catalytic sites in which the catalytically essential arginine finger is provided not by the α-subunit adjacent to the catalytic nucleotide-binding site as in all species investigated to date, but rather by a protein, p18, found only in the euglenozoa. A crystal structure at 3.2-Å resolution of the catalytic domain of the same enzyme demonstrates that this proposal is incorrect. In many respects, the structure is similar to the structures of F1-ATPases determined previously. The α3β3-spherical portion of the catalytic domain in which the three catalytic sites are found, plus the central stalk, are highly conserved, and the arginine finger is provided conventionally by the α-subunits adjacent to each of the three catalytic sites found in the β-subunits. Thus, the enzyme has a conventional catalytic mechanism. The structure differs from previous described structures by the presence of a p18 subunit, identified only in the euglenozoa, associated with the external surface of each of the three α-subunits, thereby elaborating the F1-domain. Subunit p18 is a pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein with three PPRs and appears to have no function in the catalytic mechanism of the enzyme

Causes and effects of loss of classical non-homologous end joining pathway in parasitic eukaryotes

We report frequent losses of components of the classical nonhomologous end joining pathway (C-NHEJ), one of the main eukaryotic tools for end joining repair of DNA double-strand breaks, in several lineages of parasitic protists. Moreover, we have identified a single lineage among trypanosomatid flagellates that has lost Ku70 and Ku80, the core C-NHEJ components, and accumulated numerous insertions in many protein-coding genes. We propose a correlation between these two phenomena and discuss the possible impact of the C-NHEJ loss on genome evolution and transition to the parasitic lifestyle

Inhibition of F1-ATPase from Trypanosoma brucei by its regulatory protein inhibitor TbIF1.

Hydrolysis of ATP by the mitochondrial F-ATPase is inhibited by a protein called IF1 . In the parasitic flagellate, Trypanosoma brucei, this protein, known as TbIF1 , is expressed exclusively in the procyclic stage, where the F-ATPase is synthesizing ATP. In the bloodstream stage, where TbIF1 is absent, the F-ATPase hydrolyzes ATP made by glycolysis and compensates for the absence of a proton pumping respiratory chain by translocating protons into the intermembrane space, thereby maintaining the essential mitochondrial membrane potential. We have defined regions and amino acid residues of TbIF1 that are required for its inhibitory activity by analyzing the binding of several modified recombinant inhibitors to F1 -ATPase isolated from the procyclic stage of T. brucei. Kinetic measurements revealed that the C-terminal portion of TbIF1 facilitates homodimerization, but it is not required for the inhibitory activity, similar to the bovine and yeast orthologs. However, in contrast to bovine IF1 , the inhibitory capacity of the C-terminally truncated TbIF1 diminishes with decreasing pH, similar to full length TbIF1 . This effect does not involve the dimerization of active dimers to form inactive tetramers. Over a wide pH range, the full length and C-terminally truncated TbIF1 form dimers and monomers, respectively. TbIF1 has no effect on bovine F1 -ATPase, and this difference in the mechanism of regulation of the F-ATPase between the host and the parasite could be exploited in the design of drugs to combat human and animal African trypanosomiases.This work was supported by the Ministry of Education ERC CZ grant LL1205 and Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (18‐17529S) (both to AZ), by European Regional Development Fund (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000759), and by the Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom by Grant 21 522 MC_U1065663150 and by Programme Grant MR/M009858/1 (both to JEW)

The F1 -ATPase from Trypanosoma brucei is elaborated by three copies of an additional p18-subunit.

The F-ATPases (also called the F1 Fo -ATPases or ATP synthases) are multi-subunit membrane-bound molecular machines that produce ATP in bacteria and in eukaryotic mitochondria and chloroplasts. The structures and enzymic mechanisms of their F1 -catalytic domains are highly conserved in all species investigated hitherto. However, there is evidence that the F-ATPases from the group of protozoa known as Euglenozoa have novel features. Therefore, we have isolated pure and active F1 -ATPase from the euglenozoan parasite, Trypanosoma brucei, and characterized it. All of the usual eukaryotic subunits (α, β, γ, δ, and ε) were present in the enzyme, and, in addition, two unique features were detected. First, each of the three α-subunits in the F1 -domain has been cleaved by proteolysis in vivo at two sites eight residues apart, producing two assembled fragments. Second, the T. brucei F1 -ATPase has an additional subunit, called p18, present in three copies per complex. Suppression of expression of p18 affected in vitro growth of both the insect and infectious mammalian forms of T. brucei. It also reduced the levels of monomeric and multimeric F-ATPase complexes and diminished the in vivo hydrolytic activity of the enzyme significantly. These observations imply that p18 plays a role in the assembly of the F1 domain. These unique features of the F1 -ATPase extend the list of special characteristics of the F-ATPase from T. brucei, and also, demonstrate that the architecture of the F1 -ATPase complex is not strictly conserved in eukaryotes

Secondary structure is required for 3′ splice site recognition in yeast

Higher order RNA structures can mask splicing signals, loop out exons, or constitute riboswitches all of which contributes to the complexity of splicing regulation. We identified a G to A substitution between branch point (BP) and 3′ splice site (3′ss) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae COF1 intron, which dramatically impaired its splicing. RNA structure prediction and in-line probing showed that this mutation disrupted a stem in the BP-3′ss region. Analyses of various COF1 intron modifications revealed that the secondary structure brought about the reduction of BP to 3′ss distance and masked potential 3′ss. We demonstrated the same structural requisite for the splicing of UBC13 intron. Moreover, RNAfold predicted stable structures for almost all distant BP introns in S. cerevisiae and for selected examples in several other Saccharomycotina species. The employment of intramolecular structure to localize 3′ss for the second splicing step suggests the existence of pre-mRNA structure-based mechanism of 3′ss recognition

Regulation of pre-mRNA splicing in S. cerevisiae: where RNA cooperates with proteins.

Ondřej Gahura, PhD Thesis 2011 Regulation of pre-mRNA splicing in S. cerevisiae: where RNA cooperates with proteins Abstract Removal of introns from protein coding transcripts occurs in two splicing reactions catalyzed by a large nuclear complex, spliceosome. The spliceosome is an extremely intricate and dynamic machine, wherein contributions of small RNA molecules and multiple proteins are coordinated to meet the requirements of absolute precision and high flexibility. For an intimate understanding of pre-mRNA splicing, it is necessary to unravel roles of individual components and to dissect the partial mechanisms. In the first part of this work, we describe the role of the Prp45 splicing factor in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mapping of genetic interactions of a conditionally lethal allele prp45(1-169) suggests a relationship of Prp45 to the NTC complex and to the second transesterification. Two-hybrid assay and purification of spliceosomal complexes reveal a contribution of the Prp45 C-terminus in the Prp22 helicase recruitment and/or regulation. Numerous experiments with reporter substrates document the need of Prp45 for the efficient splicing of a specific subset of introns. Our observations suggest that the function of Prp45 in splicing is conserved in evolution. The second part is devoted to the role of..

Synthetic Lethal Interactions of the PRP45 Gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Katedra buněčné biologieDepartment of Cell BiologyPřírodovědecká fakultaFaculty of Scienc

Synthetic Lethal Interactions of the PRP45 Gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Katedra buněčné biologieDepartment of Cell BiologyPřírodovědecká fakultaFaculty of Scienc