Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1992 Dec 15;89(24):11944–11948. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.24.11944

Formation of guide RNA/messenger RNA chimeric molecules in vitro, the initial step of RNA editing, is dependent on an anchor sequence.

B Blum 1, L Simpson 1
PMCID: PMC50674  PMID: 1465424

Abstract

Synthetic pre-edited messenger RNA (mRNA) and guide RNA (gRNA) for the 5'-edited maxicircle-encoded ND7 cryptogene from Leishmania tarentolae formed chimeric molecules upon incubation in the presence of a mitochondrial extract. These chimeric molecules consisted of the gRNAs covalently linked to the mRNAs by short oligo(U) tails at normal editing sites in most cases. Unlike the previously reported chimeras present in steady-state kinetoplast RNA, the in vitro-synthesized chimeras showed no editing of downstream editing sites. The synthesis of chimeric RNAs required ATP and was dependent on the formation of a gRNA/mRNA anchor duplex 3' of the pre-edited region, as shown by in vitro mutagenesis of the mRNA and the gRNA. mRNA sequences 3' and 5' of the pre-edited region also affected the efficiency of the chimera-forming activity. This in vitro system may accurately represent the initial step in RNA editing.

Full text

PDF
11945

Images in this article

11946Image
on p.11946

Selected References

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

  1. Benne R. RNA-editing in trypanosome mitochondria. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1989 Mar 1;1007(2):131–139. doi: 10.1016/0167-4781(89)90031-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Blum B., Bakalara N., Simpson L. A model for RNA editing in kinetoplastid mitochondria: "guide" RNA molecules transcribed from maxicircle DNA provide the edited information. Cell. 1990 Jan 26;60(2):189–198. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90735-w. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Blum B., Sturm N. R., Simpson A. M., Simpson L. Chimeric gRNA-mRNA molecules with oligo(U) tails covalently linked at sites of RNA editing suggest that U addition occurs by transesterification. Cell. 1991 May 17;65(4):543–550. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90087-f. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Braly P., Simpson L., Kretzer F. Isolation of kinetoplast-mitochondrial complexes from Leishmania tarentolae. J Protozool. 1974 Nov;21(5):782–790. doi: 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1974.tb03752.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cech T. R. RNA editing: world's smallest introns? Cell. 1991 Feb 22;64(4):667–669. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90494-j. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Decker C. J., Sollner-Webb B. RNA editing involves indiscriminate U changes throughout precisely defined editing domains. Cell. 1990 Jun 15;61(6):1001–1011. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90065-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Harris M. E., Hajduk S. L. Kinetoplastid RNA editing: in vitro formation of cytochrome b gRNA-mRNA chimeras from synthetic substrate RNAs. Cell. 1992 Mar 20;68(6):1091–1099. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90080-v. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Koslowsky D. J., Bhat G. J., Read L. K., Stuart K. Cycles of progressive realignment of gRNA with mRNA in RNA editing. Cell. 1991 Nov 1;67(3):537–546. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90528-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Koslowsky D. J., Göringer H. U., Morales T. H., Stuart K. In vitro guide RNA/mRNA chimaera formation in Trypanosoma brucei RNA editing. Nature. 1992 Apr 30;356(6372):807–809. doi: 10.1038/356807a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Simpson A. M., Bakalara N., Simpson L. A ribonuclease activity is activated by heparin or by digestion with proteinase K in mitochondrial extracts of Leishmania tarentolae. J Biol Chem. 1992 Apr 5;267(10):6782–6788. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Simpson L., Braly P. Synchronization of Leishmania tarentolae by hydroxyurea. J Protozool. 1970 Nov;17(4):511–517. doi: 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1970.tb04719.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Simpson L., Shaw J. RNA editing and the mitochondrial cryptogenes of kinetoplastid protozoa. Cell. 1989 May 5;57(3):355–366. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90911-2. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Simpson L., Simpson A. G. Kinetoplast RNA of Leishmania tarentolae. Cell. 1978 May;14(1):169–178. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(78)90311-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Sturm N. R., Simpson L. Kinetoplast DNA minicircles encode guide RNAs for editing of cytochrome oxidase subunit III mRNA. Cell. 1990 Jun 1;61(5):879–884. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90198-n. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES