Structural investigation of Aquarius and associated splicing factors that couple pre-mRNA splicing to downstream RNA-processing events

• Applicant: Dr. Vladimir Pena, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Structural Biology
• Term: from 2013 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 241796087

• Final Report Year: 2022

Final Report Abstract

It has long been assumed that splicing depends on eight RNA helicases. Here we show that Aquarius is also essential for splicing. Furthermore, we show that catalytic activation occurs in two steps, one driven by the RNA helicase PRP2, and the second one driven by Aquarius. We resolve the structure of the BAQR spliceosome, found between the action of the two helicases, thereby providing deep insight into the catalytic activation in pre-mRNA splicing.

Publications

• (2015). Structural investigation of the spliceosomal helicase Aquarius, Univ. of Goettingen
  Inessa De
  
• (2015). The RNA helicase Aquarius exhibits structural adaptations mediating its recruitment to spliceosomes. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 22(2):138-44
  De I., Bessonov S., Hofele R., dos Santos K., Will C.L., Urlaub H., Lührmann R. and Pena V.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2951)
• (2016). The organization and contribution of helicases to RNA splicing. WIREs RNA. 7(2): 259-274
  De I., Schmitzova J., Pena V.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1002/wrna.1331)
• (2022). An integrated model for termination of RNA polymerase III transcription. Science Advances
  Xie J., Aiello U., Clement Y., Haidara N., Girbig M., Schmitzova J., Pena V., Muller CW., Libri D., Porrua O
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm9875)