Skip to main content
PMC home page
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1994 Mar 1;13(5):1197–1204. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06369.x

RNA binding specificity of hnRNP A1: significance of hnRNP A1 high-affinity binding sites in pre-mRNA splicing.

C G Burd 1, G Dreyfuss 1
PMCID: PMC394929  PMID: 7510636

Abstract

Pre-mRNA is processed as a large complex of pre-mRNA, snRNPs and pre-mRNA binding proteins (hnRNP proteins). The significance of hnRNP proteins in mRNA biogenesis is likely to be reflected in their RNA binding properties. We have determined the RNA binding specificity of hnRNP A1 and of each of its two RNA binding domains (RBDs), by selection/amplification from pools of random sequence RNA. Unique RNA molecules were selected by hnRNP A1 and each individual RBD, suggesting that the RNA binding specificity of hnRNP A1 is the result of both RBDs acting as a single RNA binding composite. Interestingly, the consensus high-affinity hnRNP A1 binding site, UAGGGA/U, resembles the consensus sequences of vertebrate 5' and 3' splice sites. The highest affinity 'winner' sequence for hnRNP A1 contained a duplication of this sequence separated by two nucleotides, and was bound by hnRNP A1 with an apparent dissociation constant of 1 x 10(-9) M. hnRNP A1 also bound other RNA sequences, including pre-mRNA splice sites and an intron-derived sequence, but with reduced affinities, demonstrating that hnRNP A1 binds different RNA sequences with a > 100-fold range of affinities. These experiments demonstrate that hnRNP A1 is a sequence-specific RNA binding protein. UV light-induced protein-RNA crosslinking in nuclear extracts demonstrated that an oligoribonucleotide containing the A1 winner sequence can be used as a specific affinity reagent for hnRNP A1 and an unidentified 50 kDa protein. We also show that this oligoribonucleotide, as well as two others containing 5' and 3' pre-mRNA splice sites, are potent inhibitors of in vitro pre-mRNA splicing.

Full text

PDF
1202

Images in this article

1198Image
on p.1198
1199Image
on p.1199
1200Image
on p.1200
1200Image
on p.1200
1200Image
on p.1200

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bartel D. P., Zapp M. L., Green M. R., Szostak J. W. HIV-1 Rev regulation involves recognition of non-Watson-Crick base pairs in viral RNA. Cell. 1991 Nov 1;67(3):529–536. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90527-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Ben-David Y., Bani M. R., Chabot B., De Koven A., Bernstein A. Retroviral insertions downstream of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 gene in erythroleukemia cells: evidence that A1 is not essential for cell growth. Mol Cell Biol. 1992 Oct;12(10):4449–4455. doi: 10.1128/mcb.12.10.4449. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bennett M., Piñol-Roma S., Staknis D., Dreyfuss G., Reed R. Differential binding of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins to mRNA precursors prior to spliceosome assembly in vitro. Mol Cell Biol. 1992 Jul;12(7):3165–3175. doi: 10.1128/mcb.12.7.3165. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Burd C. G., Matunis E. L., Dreyfuss G. The multiple RNA-binding domains of the mRNA poly(A)-binding protein have different RNA-binding activities. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Jul;11(7):3419–3424. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.7.3419. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Burd C. G., Swanson M. S., Görlach M., Dreyfuss G. Primary structures of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2, B1, and C2 proteins: a diversity of RNA binding proteins is generated by small peptide inserts. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Dec;86(24):9788–9792. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.24.9788. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Buvoli M., Cobianchi F., Biamonti G., Riva S. Recombinant hnRNP protein A1 and its N-terminal domain show preferential affinity for oligodeoxynucleotides homologous to intron/exon acceptor sites. Nucleic Acids Res. 1990 Nov 25;18(22):6595–6600. doi: 10.1093/nar/18.22.6595. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Buvoli M., Cobianchi F., Riva S. Interaction of hnRNP A1 with snRNPs and pre-mRNAs: evidence for a possible role of A1 RNA annealing activity in the first steps of spliceosome assembly. Nucleic Acids Res. 1992 Oct 11;20(19):5017–5025. doi: 10.1093/nar/20.19.5017. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Carey J., Cameron V., de Haseth P. L., Uhlenbeck O. C. Sequence-specific interaction of R17 coat protein with its ribonucleic acid binding site. Biochemistry. 1983 May 24;22(11):2601–2610. doi: 10.1021/bi00280a002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Casas-Finet J. R., Karpel R. L., Maki A. H., Kumar A., Wilson S. H. Physical studies of tyrosine and tryptophan residues in mammalian A1 heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein. Support for a segmented structure. J Mol Biol. 1991 Sep 20;221(2):693–709. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(91)80081-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Casas-Finet J. R., Smith J. D., Jr, Kumar A., Kim J. G., Wilson S. H., Karpel R. L. Mammalian heterogeneous ribonucleoprotein A1 and its constituent domains. Nucleic acid interaction, structural stability and self-association. J Mol Biol. 1993 Feb 20;229(4):873–889. doi: 10.1006/jmbi.1993.1093. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Choi Y. D., Grabowski P. J., Sharp P. A., Dreyfuss G. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins: role in RNA splicing. Science. 1986 Mar 28;231(4745):1534–1539. doi: 10.1126/science.3952495. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Cobianchi F., Calvio C., Stoppini M., Buvoli M., Riva S. Phosphorylation of human hnRNP protein A1 abrogates in vitro strand annealing activity. Nucleic Acids Res. 1993 Feb 25;21(4):949–955. doi: 10.1093/nar/21.4.949. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Cobianchi F., Karpel R. L., Williams K. R., Notario V., Wilson S. H. Mammalian heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex protein A1. Large-scale overproduction in Escherichia coli and cooperative binding to single-stranded nucleic acids. J Biol Chem. 1988 Jan 15;263(2):1063–1071. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Cobianchi F., SenGupta D. N., Zmudzka B. Z., Wilson S. H. Structure of rodent helix-destabilizing protein revealed by cDNA cloning. J Biol Chem. 1986 Mar 15;261(8):3536–3543. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Dreyfuss G., Matunis M. J., Piñol-Roma S., Burd C. G. hnRNP proteins and the biogenesis of mRNA. Annu Rev Biochem. 1993;62:289–321. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.62.070193.001445. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Dreyfuss G. Structure and function of nuclear and cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein particles. Annu Rev Cell Biol. 1986;2:459–498. doi: 10.1146/annurev.cb.02.110186.002331. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Dreyfuss G., Swanson M. S., Piñol-Roma S. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles and the pathway of mRNA formation. Trends Biochem Sci. 1988 Mar;13(3):86–91. doi: 10.1016/0968-0004(88)90046-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Eperon I. C., Ireland D. C., Smith R. A., Mayeda A., Krainer A. R. Pathways for selection of 5' splice sites by U1 snRNPs and SF2/ASF. EMBO J. 1993 Sep;12(9):3607–3617. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1993.tb06034.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Grabowski P. J., Padgett R. A., Sharp P. A. Messenger RNA splicing in vitro: an excised intervening sequence and a potential intermediate. Cell. 1984 Jun;37(2):415–427. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90372-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Görlach M., Wittekind M., Beckman R. A., Mueller L., Dreyfuss G. Interaction of the RNA-binding domain of the hnRNP C proteins with RNA. EMBO J. 1992 Sep;11(9):3289–3295. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1992.tb05407.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Hall K. B., Konarska M. M. The 5' splice site consensus RNA oligonucleotide induces assembly of U2/U4/U5/U6 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complexes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Nov 15;89(22):10969–10973. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.22.10969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Hellen C. U., Witherell G. W., Schmid M., Shin S. H., Pestova T. V., Gil A., Wimmer E. A cytoplasmic 57-kDa protein that is required for translation of picornavirus RNA by internal ribosomal entry is identical to the nuclear pyrimidine tract-binding protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Aug 15;90(16):7642–7646. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.16.7642. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Irvine D., Tuerk C., Gold L. SELEXION. Systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment with integrated optimization by non-linear analysis. J Mol Biol. 1991 Dec 5;222(3):739–761. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(91)90509-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Ishikawa F., Matunis M. J., Dreyfuss G., Cech T. R. Nuclear proteins that bind the pre-mRNA 3' splice site sequence r(UUAG/G) and the human telomeric DNA sequence d(TTAGGG)n. Mol Cell Biol. 1993 Jul;13(7):4301–4310. doi: 10.1128/mcb.13.7.4301. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Kiledjian M., Dreyfuss G. Primary structure and binding activity of the hnRNP U protein: binding RNA through RGG box. EMBO J. 1992 Jul;11(7):2655–2664. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1992.tb05331.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Kumar A., Casas-Finet J. R., Luneau C. J., Karpel R. L., Merrill B. M., Williams K. R., Wilson S. H. Mammalian heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1. Nucleic acid binding properties of the COOH-terminal domain. J Biol Chem. 1990 Oct 5;265(28):17094–17100. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Kumar A., Wilson S. H. Studies of the strand-annealing activity of mammalian hnRNP complex protein A1. Biochemistry. 1990 Dec 4;29(48):10717–10722. doi: 10.1021/bi00500a001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Lutz-Freyermuth C., Query C. C., Keene J. D. Quantitative determination that one of two potential RNA-binding domains of the A protein component of the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex binds with high affinity to stem-loop II of U1 RNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Aug;87(16):6393–6397. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.16.6393. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Matunis E. L., Matunis M. J., Dreyfuss G. Association of individual hnRNP proteins and snRNPs with nascent transcripts. J Cell Biol. 1993 Apr;121(2):219–228. doi: 10.1083/jcb.121.2.219. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Matunis E. L., Matunis M. J., Dreyfuss G. Characterization of the major hnRNP proteins from Drosophila melanogaster. J Cell Biol. 1992 Jan;116(2):257–269. doi: 10.1083/jcb.116.2.257. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Mayeda A., Helfman D. M., Krainer A. R. Modulation of exon skipping and inclusion by heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 and pre-mRNA splicing factor SF2/ASF. Mol Cell Biol. 1993 May;13(5):2993–3001. doi: 10.1128/mcb.13.5.2993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Mayeda A., Krainer A. R. Regulation of alternative pre-mRNA splicing by hnRNP A1 and splicing factor SF2. Cell. 1992 Jan 24;68(2):365–375. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90477-t. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. McKay S. J., Cooke H. hnRNP A2/B1 binds specifically to single stranded vertebrate telomeric repeat TTAGGGn. Nucleic Acids Res. 1992 Dec 25;20(24):6461–6464. doi: 10.1093/nar/20.24.6461. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Merrill B. M., Stone K. L., Cobianchi F., Wilson S. H., Williams K. R. Phenylalanines that are conserved among several RNA-binding proteins form part of a nucleic acid-binding pocket in the A1 heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein. J Biol Chem. 1988 Mar 5;263(7):3307–3313. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Milligan J. F., Groebe D. R., Witherell G. W., Uhlenbeck O. C. Oligoribonucleotide synthesis using T7 RNA polymerase and synthetic DNA templates. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Nov 11;15(21):8783–8798. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.21.8783. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Mount S. M. A catalogue of splice junction sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Jan 22;10(2):459–472. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.2.459. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Munroe S. H., Dong X. F. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 catalyzes RNA.RNA annealing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Feb 1;89(3):895–899. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.3.895. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Nadler S. G., Merrill B. M., Roberts W. J., Keating K. M., Lisbin M. J., Barnett S. F., Wilson S. H., Williams K. R. Interactions of the A1 heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein and its proteolytic derivative, UP1, with RNA and DNA: evidence for multiple RNA binding domains and salt-dependent binding mode transitions. Biochemistry. 1991 Mar 19;30(11):2968–2976. doi: 10.1021/bi00225a034. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Nietfeld W., Mentzel H., Pieler T. The Xenopus laevis poly(A) binding protein is composed of multiple functionally independent RNA binding domains. EMBO J. 1990 Nov;9(11):3699–3705. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb07582.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Ohshima Y., Gotoh Y. Signals for the selection of a splice site in pre-mRNA. Computer analysis of splice junction sequences and like sequences. J Mol Biol. 1987 May 20;195(2):247–259. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(87)90647-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Piñol-Roma S., Dreyfuss G. Shuttling of pre-mRNA binding proteins between nucleus and cytoplasm. Nature. 1992 Feb 20;355(6362):730–732. doi: 10.1038/355730a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Pontius B. W., Berg P. Renaturation of complementary DNA strands mediated by purified mammalian heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 protein: implications for a mechanism for rapid molecular assembly. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Nov;87(21):8403–8407. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.21.8403. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Portman D. S., Dreyfuss G. RNA annealing activities in HeLa nuclei. EMBO J. 1994 Jan 1;13(1):213–221. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06251.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Schneider D., Gold L., Platt T. Selective enrichment of RNA species for tight binding to Escherichia coli rho factor. FASEB J. 1993 Jan;7(1):201–207. doi: 10.1096/fasebj.7.1.7678562. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Schneider D., Tuerk C., Gold L. Selection of high affinity RNA ligands to the bacteriophage R17 coat protein. J Mol Biol. 1992 Dec 5;228(3):862–869. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(92)90870-p. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Swanson M. S., Dreyfuss G. Classification and purification of proteins of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles by RNA-binding specificities. Mol Cell Biol. 1988 May;8(5):2237–2241. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.5.2237. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Swanson M. S., Dreyfuss G. RNA binding specificity of hnRNP proteins: a subset bind to the 3' end of introns. EMBO J. 1988 Nov;7(11):3519–3529. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03228.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. Tsai D. E., Harper D. S., Keene J. D. U1-snRNP-A protein selects a ten nucleotide consensus sequence from a degenerate RNA pool presented in various structural contexts. Nucleic Acids Res. 1991 Sep 25;19(18):4931–4936. doi: 10.1093/nar/19.18.4931. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Tuerk C., Gold L. Systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment: RNA ligands to bacteriophage T4 DNA polymerase. Science. 1990 Aug 3;249(4968):505–510. doi: 10.1126/science.2200121. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. Zamore P. D., Patton J. G., Green M. R. Cloning and domain structure of the mammalian splicing factor U2AF. Nature. 1992 Feb 13;355(6361):609–614. doi: 10.1038/355609a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES