RNA processing Flashcards
What is RNA made up of?
- Ribose sugar ( 5 carbon sugar)-a base - A,G,C,u - 2 hydroxyl group (OH) - key feature of RNA- Phosphodiester backbone
Why is the 2 Hydroxyl Group important ?
- it acts as a nucleophile to break the phosphodiester backbone in RNA- if there was a lack of a 2 ‘ hydroxyl group it makes the DNA chemically stable.
How is genetic information in prokaryotes trasnferred from genes to proteins?
- this is done via a ‘messenger ‘ RNA (mRNA) which is a direct copy of the DNA gene seduence.
How does eukaryotic protein coding occur?
- most genes in higher eukaryotes have their protein coding information interrupted by non- coding ‘ intervening’ sequences called Introns. ( every gene in cells has many introns !) the sequence expressed are called Exons.
What are the coding and non coding parts of DNA called?
introns - non codingexons- coding expressed
Why are eukaryotic genes split ?
- Eukaryotic genes contain introns and the protein coding regions of the genes are thus not continuous !- in lower eukaryotes - (e.g. Yeast) only a small fraction of genes have introns which are usually located near the 5’ end of the gene.- in multicellul
Why must introns be removed?
- the introns often contain STOP codons that would prematurely terminate translation- even it no STOP codons are present the intron sequence may shift the translational reading frame of downstream exons.-sequence of intron regions vary more than protein c
Why is splicing essential in Eukaryotes?
- splicing is when introns are removed , and exons are joined together- splicing inhibited = cells stop growing and die because they cant make new proteins !- RNA splicing is also essential for the growth of most eukaryotic viruses - most viral genes have
why is it not as simple to say ‘ one intron to one gene’?
- because in higher eukaryotes ( including humans) most genes contain multiple introns- usually all introns must be removed before the mRNA can be translated to produce protein.However multiple introns may be spliced differently in different circumstances
what is Recursive Splicing in Drosophila ?
- the removal of introns by sequential re-splicing at composite 3’/5’ spli.e sites
What is snoRNA?
small nucleolar RNA- small group of RNA- they guide chemical modifications of other RNA ( mainly rRNA ,tRNA etc)
are stop Introns just junk ?
- No they may play an important role in cell development - even though they don’t code for any instructions.
What are the two types of snoRNA ?
- C/D Box snoRNA- H/ACA box snoRNA
What are the functions of snoRNA?
gene expression - alternative splicing- stress- processing of different RNA
What is the role of intron sequences?
-not all introns are junk sequences -same RNA sequence can act as an intron in one transcript and an exon in another transcript.( depending on the alternative splicing pattern)- some introns contain functional RNA products that are processed out of the in
What is the Spliceosome ?
- splicing of introns from pre-mRNA’s is catalysed by the ‘ spliceosome’ - an RNA protein - complex!- it has 300 proteins and 5 small RNAs - the premRNA goes into it and comes out spliced mRNA- it functions in the nucelus- splicing works similarly in diff
How are introns recognized?
splice site consensus sequences.
What is similar between introns?
most introns have the same general structure and are removed by the same splicing machinery - the major spliceosome
give an example of the splicing of a small subset of introns?
- a small subset of introns - called ‘AT-AC’ introns have a different consensus sequences and are recognised and removed by a separate splicing machinery - the ‘minor’ spliceosome
There re two types of spliceosomes?
- the major spliceosome ( most introns have same general structure so use the same splceosome )- the minor spliceosome ( a small subset of introns - ‘AT-AC’ use a different splicing machine.
What are snRNPS ?
RNA- protein complexes snRNPs ( pronounces snurps) are the major sub units of the spliceosome - the recognition of splice sites in mRNA precursors involves a complex set of RNA-RNA base pairing interactions between the intron branch point and intron-exon junctions and specific regions of complimentary RNA sequence in the trans-acting snRNA components of the spliceosome snRNP subunits
How are introns recognised?
intron recognition can occur by spliceosome snRNAs
What experimental evidence is there for base pairing between snRNAs and Intron sequences?
- experimental evicence for base pairing between snRNAs and intron sequences comes from both biochemical RNA X- linking data and from genetic compensatory mutation studies where intron mutations that block splicing are rescued by expressing suppressor mut
What the two steps in which introns are removed?
- splicing is a pre-mRNA and involves two sequential reactions - both of which are catalysed by the spliecosomegetting from step one to step two require intermediates !!!!splicing step 1:- trans - esterification this is when the 2 - hydroxyl group of the
What are the products of the pre-mrna splicing?
spliced mRNA- intron lariat
What is the overview of the spliceosome cycle?
- the assembly of spiceosomes is dynamic - the assembly of spliceosomes occurs on nascent premRNA in vivo - introns can be removed before the RNA polymerase has completed transcription of the gene !- a seperate spliceosome assembles independently on each
What energy is required for splicing?
- the splcing reaction is known as isoenergetic ( e.g. the two transesterification reactions swap phosphodiester bonds with no overall change in the number of chemical bonds formed or broken, in principle the chemistry of the splicing reaction therefore d
Do different eukaryotes have different numhers of protein coding genes ?
- YES !- species with vastly different complexities have a comparable number of protein coding genes. - in eukaryotes we have 1 gene to many proteins