Understanding the core of RNA interference: The dynamic aspects of Argonaute-mediated processes

Abstract
At the core of RNA interference, the Argonaute proteins (Ago) load and utilize small guide nucleic acids to silence mRNAs or cleave foreign nucleic acids in a sequence specific manner. In recent years, based on extensive structural studies of Ago and its interaction with the nucleic acids, considerable progress has been made to reveal the dynamic aspects of various Ago-mediated processes. Here we review these novel insights into the guide-strand loading, duplex unwinding, and effects of seed mismatch, with a focus on two representative Agos, the human Ago 2 (hAgo2) and the bacterial Thermus thermophilus Ago (TtAgo). In particular, comprehensive molecular simulation studies revealed that although sharing similar overall structures, the two Agos have vastly different conformational landscapes and guide-strand loading mechanisms because of the distinct rigidity of their L1-PAZ hinge. Given the central role of the PAZ motions in regulating the exposure of the nucleic acid binding channel, these findings exemplify the importance of protein motions in distinguishing the overlapping, yet distinct, mechanisms of Ago-mediated processes in different organisms.

Citation
Zhu L, Jiang H, Sheong FK, Cui X, Wang Y, et al. (2016) Understanding the core of RNA interference: The dynamic aspects of Argonaute-mediated processes. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2016.09.008.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Hong Kong Research Grant Council [grant numbers HKUST C6009-15G, 16302214, 609813, AoE/M-09/12, M-HKUST601/13, and T13-607/12R to X.H.]; the National Science Foundation of China [grant number 21273188 to X.H.] and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under Award No. URF/1/1976-04 to X.G.. This research made use of the resources of the Supercomputing Laboratory and computer clusters at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST).

Publisher
Elsevier BV

Journal
Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology

DOI
10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2016.09.008

Additional Links
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079610716300207

Permanent link to this record