We have identified, in extracts from Xenopus laevis germinal vesicles, a 5' exonuclease activity that cleaves double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Features of the 5' ends of dsRNAs determine whether the strands are symmetrically or asymmetrically degraded. The activity hydrolyzes in the 5' to 3' direction, releasing 5'-mononucleotides processively, favoring strands with 5'-monophosphate termini; molecules with capped ends are resistant to digestion. Because of its ability to processively digest dsRNA to mononucleotides, we have named the exonuclease Chipper, which could cooperate or compete with Dicer (an endonuclease that produces molecules with a 5'-phosphate) in the processing of dsRNA.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.252777499 | DOI Listing |
Nat Commun
January 2025
Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 111 T. W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA.
Coronaviruses evade detection by the host immune system with the help of the endoribonuclease Nsp15, which regulates levels of viral double stranded RNA by cleaving 3' of uridine (U). While prior structural data shows that to cleave double stranded RNA, Nsp15's target U must be flipped out of the helix, it is not yet understood whether Nsp15 initiates flipping or captures spontaneously flipped bases. We address this gap by designing fluorinated double stranded RNA substrates that allow us to directly relate a U's sequence context to both its tendency to spontaneously flip and its susceptibility to cleavage by Nsp15.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCNS Neurosci Ther
January 2025
Jiujiang Clinical Precision Medicine Research Center, Jiujiang, Jiangxi, China.
Background: Adenosine deaminase action on RNA 1 (ADAR1) can convert the adenosine in double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules into inosine in a process known as A-to-I RNA editing. ADAR1 regulates gene expression output by interacting with RNA and other proteins; plays important roles in development, including growth; and is linked to innate immunity, tumors, and central nervous system (CNS) diseases.
Results: In recent years, the role of ADAR1 in tumors has been widely discussed, but its role in CNS diseases has not been reviewed.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405.
Transgenic expression of a double-stranded RNA in plants can induce silencing of homologous mRNAs in fungal pathogens. Although such host-induced gene silencing is well documented, the molecular mechanisms by which RNAs can move from the cytoplasm of plant cells across the plasma membrane of both the host cell and fungal cell are poorly understood. Indirect evidence suggests that this RNA transfer may occur at a very early stage of the infection process, prior to breach of the host cell wall, suggesting that silencing RNAs might be secreted onto leaf surfaces.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Sens
January 2025
Center for Biomedical-photonics and Molecular Imaging, Advanced Diagnostic-Therapy Technology and Equipment Key Laboratory of Higher Education Institutions in Shaanxi Province, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710126, China.
Functional nucleic acids constitute a distinct category of nucleic acids that diverge from conventional nucleic acid amplification methodologies. They are capable of forming intricate hybrid structures through Hoogsteen and reverse Hoogsteen hydrogen bonding interactions between double-stranded and single-stranded DNA, thereby broadening the spectrum of DNA interactions. In recent years, functional DNA/RNA-based surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has emerged as a potent platform capable of ultrasensitive and multiplexed detection of a variety of analytes of interest.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Institute of Biophysics, Czech Academy of Sciences , Královopolská 135, Brno, 612 65, Czech Republic.
Retroviruses are among the most extensively studied viral families, both historically and in contemporary research. They are primarily investigated in the fields of viral oncogenesis, reverse transcription mechanisms, and other infection-specific aspects. These include the integration of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) into host genomes, a process widely utilized in genetic engineering, and the ongoing search for HIV/AIDS treatment.
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