Key result
Seven new ligand-responsive RNA mechanical switches were discovered, highlighting unique structural and functional features with implications for therapeutic development and RNA nanostructures.
The discovery and structural characterization of ligand-responsive RNA mechanical switches in viral genomes may have implications for therapeutic development and the construction of RNA nanostructures.
Ligand-responsive RNA mechanical switches represent a new class of simple switching modules that adopt well-defined ligand-free and bound conformational states, distinguishing them from metabolite-sensing riboswitches. Initially discovered in the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) of hepatitis C virus (HCV), these RNA switch motifs were found in the genome of diverse other viruses. Although large variations are seen in sequence and local secondary structure of the switches, their function in viral translation initiation that requires selective ligand recognition is conserved. We recently determined the crystal structure of an RNA switch from Seneca Valley virus (SVV) which is able to functionally replace the switch of HCV. The switches from both viruses recognize identical cognate ligands despite their sequence dissimilarity. Here, we describe the discovery of 7 new switches in addition to the previously established 5 examples. We highlight structural and functional features unique to this class of ligand-responsive RNA mechanical switches and discuss implications for therapeutic development and the construction of RNA nanostructures.
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Boerneke et al. (2015) studied this question. Ligand-responsive RNA mechanical switches was evaluated. Seven new ligand-responsive RNA mechanical switches were discovered, highlighting unique structural and functional features with implications for therapeutic development and RNA nanostructures.
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