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GREAT EXPERIMENTS
The discovery of RNA-guided RNA modification

Tamás Kiss

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Introduction

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In addition to the four classical ribonucleotides, adenosine, guanosine, cytidine and uridine, several cellular RNAs also contain a number of structurally diverse ribonucleotides. These so called modified ribonucleotides are synthesized post-transcriptionally by covalent modification of the classical ribonucleotides (see tRNA contains modified bases and Small RNAs are required for rRNA processing). During the last 40 years, almost a hundred different modified nucleotides have been identified in transfer RNAs (tRNAs), ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs). In tRNAs, modified nucleotides are important determinants of the specificity and efficiency of aminoacylation and codon recognition (for review see 1395) (and see Modified bases affect anticodon-codon pairing).

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Background

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Figure 1  
In 2′-O-methylated nucleotides, the hydrophilic 2′-O-hydroxyl group is masked with a hydrophobic methyl group.

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Figure 2  
Pseudouridine is formed from uridine by base rotation around the N3-C6 axis after cleavage of the N1-C1 glycosyl bond. Pseudouridine contains an extra imino group in comparison with its parent nucleotide.

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In rRNAs and snRNAs, the precise function of modified nucleotides is not yet defined. However, since the altered nucleotides cluster around functionally important regions of these RNAs and show a striking evolutionarily conservation, it is expected that they are fundamental to the faithful function of both rRNAs and snRNAs. The most prevalent RNA modifications are the 2′-O-ribose methylation of the four classical ribonucleotides and conversion of uridines into pseudouridine, as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2. Mammalian 18S, 5.8S and 28S rRNAs together carry about 100 pseudouridines and 115 2′-O-methyl groups. Since the numerous 2′-O-methylated nucleotides and pseudouridines occupy diverse sequence and structural environments, the molecular mechanism underlying their site-specific synthesis has remained an enigma for almost a half-century.

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Formation of mature rRNAs takes place in a subnuclear organelle, the nucleolus. The 18S, 5.8S and 28S rRNAs are processed from a long primary rRNA transcript (pre-rRNA) containing long noncoding spacer and flanking sequences. Pseudouridylation and 2′-O-ribose methylation of the 18S, 5.8S and 28S rRNAs occurs before nucleolytic processing of the pre-rRNA. New insight into the mechanism of these rRNA modifications followed from the discovery of intron-encoded small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) in the early 1990s. This discovery caused great excitement amongst molecular biologists since the intronic snoRNAs, instead of being transcribed from independent transcription units, are processed from pre-mRNA introns. Soon after the discovery of the first intronic snoRNA (1366), it became apparent that intron processing is a general mechanism for production of snoRNAs and that the nucleolus contains an unexpected number of snoRNAs. The nucleolar localization of intronic snoRNAs suggested that they might function in some aspects of rRNA maturation. This proposal was strongly supported by the fact that many newly discovered snoRNAs carried 10-21 nucleotide long sequences that are perfectly complementary to the 18S and 28S rRNAs (for review see 1361).

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The experiment: Ribose-methylation of rRNAs

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In the mid 1990s, when I moved to Toulouse, my major interest was in understanding the nucleolar function of intronic snoRNAs. In hopes of learning more about the structure and possible function of this class of RNAs by characterizing several novel snoRNAs, we constructed a cDNA library of human intron-encoded snoRNAs. While identification of a new snoRNA had been a time-consuming and laborious task before, a systematic sequence analysis of our cDNA library provided us with sequences of about 50 novel human snoRNAs (741).

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Figure 3  
Site-specific 2′-O-ribose methylation of rRNAs is directed by box C/D snoRNAs. C/D box snoRNA:rRNA pairing places the D or D′ box of the snoRNA at a constant position from the 2′-O-methylated nucleotide.

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A large subset of the newly identified snoRNAs carried one or sometimes two sequence motifs complementary to human rRNAs, as shown in Figure 3. The antisense sequences were adjacent to short sequence elements evolutionarily conserved amongst snoRNAs, called the D or D′ box (consensus CUGA) and the C or C′ box (consensus UGAUGA).

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By the end of the 1980s, most 2′-O-methyl groups had been mapped both on mammalian and yeast rRNAs, thanks to the heroic effort of the laboratory of Ted Maden (for review see 1369). When we inspected the putative base-pairing interactions between the new antisense snoRNAs and the complementary rRNA sequences, two observations became apparent. First, the distribution of ribosomal 2′-O-methylated nucleotides largely correlated with the binding sites of snoRNAs. More importantly, we also noticed that in the putative snoRNA-rRNA interaction, the ribosomal nucleotide destined for 2′-O-methylation has an invariant location; it always faces the fifth nucleotide upstream from the D or D′ box of the snoRNA, as shown in Figure 3.

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We proposed a model in which 2′-O-methylation of rRNAs is guided by box C/D snoRNAs. A transient base-pairing interaction would place the D or D′ box of the snoRNA at a fixed position with respect to the ribosomal target nucleotide. A putative 2′-O-methyltransferase which would likely bind to the D or D′ box of the snoRNA would rely on this structural information to select the ribosomal target nucleotide located five base pairs from the D or D′ box.

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Figure 4  
Ribose-methylation of the C1436 residue in the yeast 25S rRNA is directed by the U24 snoRNA. Base-pairing interaction of the yeast U24 snoRNA and 25S rRNA can position the C1436 residue (circled) for 2′-O-methylation. An altered version of the U24 snoRNA (U24m) is predicted to direct 2′-O-methylation of the U1437 residue (underlined). Ribose-methylation was tested in 25S rRNAs obtained from wild-type (lane WT) and mutant cells in which the U24 locus had been disrupted (lane ΔU24) derivatives of the ΔU24 strain which expressed either the host gene of the U24 intronic snoRNA (lane HOST), the U24 snoRNA (lane U24) or the mutant U24m snoRNA (lane U24m). The U24m construct carries a C80 deletion. Lanes C, U, A and G are sequencing ladders of the yeast 25S rRNA.

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Figure 5  
Primer extension assay for 2′-O-methylated nucleotides.

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We sought to experimentally validate the proposed model of snoRNA-directed 2′-O-methylation by using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our model predicted that the antisense element preceding the D box of the yeast U24 snoRNA can position the C1436 residue in the 25S rRNA for 2′-O-methylation (Figure 4). To test whether the U24 snoRNA functions in 2′-O-methylation of 25S rRNA, the U24 snoRNA gene and its host gene (HOST) were depleted in a haploid yeast strain by classical yeast gene replacement technology, resulting in the ΔU24 strain. The state of 2′-O-methylation of the C1436 residue in the 25S rRNA was tested in both the wild-type (WT) and the disruption mutant (ΔU24) yeast strains. Figure 5 shows our primer extension assay, in which partially hydrolyzed 25S rRNA was used as a template, and 2′-O-methylated nucleotides appeared as "gaps" in the ladder of the extension products.

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As seen in Figure 4, the C1436 residue was 2′-O-methylated in the 25S rRNA obtained from the wild-type strain (lane WT), but it was unmodified in the disruption mutant strain (lane ΔU24), demonstrating that either the U24 snoRNA or its host gene is essential for ribose-methylation of the C1436 residue. Since restoration of the expression of the U24 snoRNA in the ΔU24 strain (lane U24), but not its host gene (lane HOST), could reestablish 2′-O-methylation of the C1436 residue, we concluded that the U24 snoRNA is required for the 2′-O-methylation of the yeast 25S rRNA. Finally, we tested a strain expressing an altered version of the U24 snoRNA in the ΔU24 background. In this altered version of U24, U24m, the distance between the D box and the C1436 residue was reduced to four nucleotides and the neighboring U1437 residue was 2′-O-methylated (lane U24m). This demonstrated that ribosomal nucleotides located five base pairs from the D box are selected for 2′-O-methylation, and that the U24 snoRNA was acting as a guide RNA for the modification of 25S rRNA.

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The experiment: Pseudouridylation of rRNAs

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Figure 6  
Site-specific pseudouridine formation in rRNAs is guided by box H/ACA snoRNAs. The snoRNA and rRNA form a complex pseudoknot structure in which the substrate uridine (Ψ) occupies an invariant position at the base of the upper stem closing the pseudouridine recognition loop of the snoRNA.

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In 1996, Fournier and his colleagues noticed that snoRNAs lacking the C and D boxes contain an evolutionarily conserved ACA motif located three nucleotides from the 3′ end of the RNA (1216). They concluded that most snoRNAs belong to one of two distinct families, depending on the presence of the box C/D or box ACA motif. Indeed, inspection of our newly identified intronic snoRNAs confirmed that several RNAs, although lacking C and D boxes, featured a 3′-terminal ACA box. Structural probing of a novel box ACA snoRNA, followed by a systematic computer modeling of all mammalian and yeast box ACA snoRNAs revealed that this class of snoRNAs share a conserved two-dimensional structure shown in Figure 6, consisting of two hairpin structures and another conserved sequence motif, the H box (consensus ANANNA) (1217). The box H/ACA snoRNAs were found to be specifically associated with an evolutionarily conserved nucleolar protein, Gar1p (1216; 1217). Intriguingly, in collaboration with Michou Ferrer's group, we showed that the Gar1 box H/ACA snoRNP protein is essential for the global pseudouridylation of yeast rRNAs (1219). This observation strongly suggested that the box H/ACA snoRNAs function in rRNA pseudouridylation.

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By 1997, Ofengand and his colleagues determined the positions of all pseudouridines in yeast 18S, 25S and human 28S rRNAs (reviewed in 1370). For human 18S rRNA, distribution of pseudouridines had been reported before (1369). We scrutinized all box H/ACA snoRNAs for complementarity to rRNA sequences at known pseudouridylation sites (1218). We found that the majority of box H/ACA snoRNAs possess at least one or sometimes two pairs of short sequence motifs which can base-pair with rRNA sequences flanking a reported pseudouridylation site. The putative rRNA recognition sequences occupy the opposite strands of internal loops in the 5′- and/or 3′-terminal hairpin structure of the snoRNA (Figure 6). In the putative snoRNA-rRNA interaction the uridine residue selected for pseudouridylation is placed at the base of the upper stem flanking the pseudouridylation guide loop of the snoRNA. In this "pseudouridylation pocket," the substrate uridine is located about 14 nucleotides upstream of the H or ACA box of the snoRNA.

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Figure 7  
Gene disruption and restoration experiments demonstrate that pseudo­uridylation of the U1003 residue in the yeast 25S rRNA is guided by base pairing with the box H/ACA snoRNA, snR5. Pseudo­uridylation of 25S rRNAs purified from wild-type yeast cells (lane WT), from cells lacking a functional SNR5 gene (lane ΔsnR5 ) as well as from ΔsnR5 cells expressing an exogenous SNR5 gene (lane snR5rest) . Lanes U, G, C and A show sequencing ladders of the yeast 25S rRNA.

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Figure 8  
CMC-reverse transcriptase assay for pseudo­uridylation.

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To verify the proposed pseudouridylation model, the yeast SNR5 gene encoding the putative snR5 pseudouridylation guide RNA was depleted in a haploid yeast strain. The proposed pseudouridylation pocket in the 3′-terminal hairpin of the snR5 snoRNA should position the U1003 residue in the yeast 25S rRNA for pseudouridylation, as seen in Figure 7. The pseudouridylation status of the 25S rRNA was assayed by the CMC-reverse transcriptase approach shown in Figure 8. Conversion of the U1003 residue into pseudouridine was monitored in 25S rRNAs derived from the wild-type (Figure 7,lane WT) and the snR5-depleted (lane ΔsnR5) strains. Depletion of snR5 abolished pseudouridylation of the U1003 residue, but did not affect pseudouridine synthesis at other known pseudouridylation sites in the yeast 25S rRNA (for example at U959, U965, U985, and U989). Moreover, restoration of the expression of snR5 in the ΔsnR5 strain (lane snR5rest) reestablished the site-specific pseudouridylation of U1003, demonstrating that conversion of the U1003 residue into pseudouridine is guided by the snR5 box H/ACA snoRNA. In an independent study, the Fournier laboratory showed that 10 yeast box H/ACA snoRNAs could be correlated with specific rRNA pseudouridylation reactions (742), providing solid evidence for the notion that box H/ACA snoRNAs function as guide RNAs in the site-specific pseudouridylation of eukaryotic rRNAs.

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The legacy

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In eukaryotic rRNAs, the site-specific synthesis of the "fifth ribonucleotide," pseudouridine (1364), and the equally abundant 2′-O-ribose-methylated nucleotides is guided by snoRNAs. Although the guide snoRNAs are associated with a set of proteins, the RNA component of the particle provides all the information necessary for selection of the correct ribosomal nucleotide for 2′-O-methylation and pseudouridylation. Consistent with this conclusion, by manipulating the rRNA recognition motifs of 2′-O-methylation and pseudouridylation guide snoRNAs, novel modification sites have been introduced into mammalian and yeast rRNAs (1363; 1362). Recently, snoRNAs have been demonstrated to also function in 2′-O-methylation of spliceosomal snRNAs (1368; 1365), demonstrating that the snoRNA-mediated RNA modification is a more widespread strategy and is not simply confined to rRNAs.

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Apparently, adoption of the snoRNA-guided modification mechanism provides many advantages for eukaryotic cells. Eubacterial rRNAs contain only a few modified nucleotides which are synthesized by specific protein enzymes. In eukaryotes, instead of expressing hundreds of protein enzymes, a single snoRNA-associated pseudouridine synthase (Nap57p/Cbf5p) and 2′-O-methyltransferase (fibrillarin) can accomplish the site-specific synthesis of myriad modified nucleotides in rRNAs, snRNAs and most probably other cellular RNAs. While evolution of protein enzymes is ponderous and highly dependent on the preexisting modification sites, the snoRNA-guided modification system is much more flexible and can evolve very rapidly. Random mutations in the rRNA recognition motif can easily give rise to a new guide snoRNA directing modification of a novel rRNA site. As a consequence, the snoRNA-guided pseudouridylation and 2′-O-methylation systems can continuously survey rRNA sequences during evolution to introduce novel functionally advantageous modifications into eukaryotic ribosomes.

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The author

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Tamás Kiss is Directeur de Recherche at the French medical research organization, INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale). He graduated from the Faculty of Natural Sciences at University József Attila, Szeged, Hungary. He received undergraduate and postgraduate training at the Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, where he studied the function and expression of plant small nuclear RNAs with Ferenc Solymosy. His postdoctoral research with Witold Filipowicz at the Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel, Switzerland, focused on the understanding of the RNA polymerase selection of plant small nuclear RNA genes. Later, being amongst the first scientists who discovered intron-encoded small nucleolar RNAs, his interest turned to the biogenesis and function of this fascinating group of small RNAs. He is a Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization.


Tamás Kiss
Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire Eucaryote du CNRS
Université Paul Sabatier
118 route de Narbonne
31062 Toulouse, France
Phone: (33) 5 61 33 59 91
Fax: (33) 5 61 33 58 86
E-mail: tamas@ibcg.biotoul.fr

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Last Revised on September 10, 2004

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reviews
  • 1361 Bachellerie, J. P., Michot, B., Nicoloso, M., Balakin, A., Ni, J., and Fournier, M. J. (1995).  Antisense snoRNAs: a family of nucleolar RNAs with long complementarities to rRNA.  Trends Biochem. Sci. 20, 261-264.  PubMed   Journal
  • 1369 Maden, B. E. (1990).  The numerous modified nucleotides in eukaryotic ribosomal RNA.  Prog. Nucleic Acid Res. Mol. Biol. 39, 241-303.  PubMed  
  • 1370 Ofengand, J., and Fournier, M. J. (1998).  The psdeuouridine residues of rRNA: number, location, biosynthesis, and function. In Modification and Editing of RNA Grosjean, H., and Benne, R., eds. (Washington, DC: American Society for Microbiology).
  • 1395 Agris, P. F. (1996).  The importance of being modified: roles of modified nucleosides and Mg2+ in RNA structure and function.  Prog. Nucleic Acid Res. Mol. Biol. 53, 79-129.  PubMed  
reviews
  • 741 Kiss-Laszlo, Z. et al. (1996).  Site-specific ribose methylation of preribosomal RNA: a novel function for small nucleolar RNAs.  Cell 85, 1077-1068.  PubMed   Journal
  • 742 Ni, J., Tien, A. L., and Fournier, M. J. (1997).  Small nucleolar RNAs direct site-specific synthesis of pseudouridine in rRNA.  Cell 89, 565-573.  PubMed   Journal
  • 1216 Balakin, A. G., Smith, L., and Fournier, M. J. (1996).  The RNA world of the nucleolus: two major families of small RNAs defined by different box elements with related functions.  Cell 86, 823-834.  PubMed   Journal
  • 1217 Ganot, P., Caizergues-Ferrer, M., and Kiss, T. (1997).  The family of box ACA small nucleolar RNAs is defined by an evolutionarily conserved secondary structure and ubiquitous sequence elements essential for RNA accumulation.  Genes Dev. 11, 941-956.  PubMed  
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