Ancestral Roles of Small RNAs: An Ago-Centric Perspective
Ancestral Roles of Small RNAs: An Ago-Centric Perspective
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DOI：
10.1101/cshperspect.a003772
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发表时间：
2011-10-01
影响因子：
7.2
通讯作者：
Hannon, Gregory J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Joshua-Tor, Leemor;Hannon, Gregory J.
RNAi至少在原核生物和真核生物分化后就存在了。这一系列的信号通路可以对多种“沉默的”RNA作出反应，并且通常可以沉默或消除与沉默触发者共享序列内容的基因。在经典途径中，双链RNA被加工成小RNA，通过互补碱基配对将效应器复合体引导到其靶点。从沉默触发到小RNA的许多替代途径不断被发现。尽管该途径的触发因素和产生小RNA的机制很多，但所有与RNAi相关的机制都共享ArgAerte蛋白作为其效应器复合体的心脏。它们可以充当自给自足的沉默机器，直接与小RNA结合，进行基于同源的目标识别，在某些情况下使用内源核酸酶结构域切割目标。在这里，我们从结构和功能的角度讨论ArgAerte蛋白的多样性。
RNAi has existed at least since the divergence of prokaryotes and eukaryotes. This collection of pathways responds to a diversity of "abberant" RNAs and generally silences or eliminates genes sharing sequence content with the silencing trigger. In the canonical pathway, double-stranded RNAs are processed into small RNAs, which guide effector complexes to their targets by complementary base pairing. Many alternative routes from silencing trigger to small RNA are continuously being uncovered. Though the triggers of the pathway and the mechanisms of small RNA production are many, all RNAi-related mechanisms share Argonaute proteins as the heart of their effector complexes. These can act as self-contained silencing machines, binding directly to small RNAs, carrying out homology-based target recognition, and in some cases cleaving targets using an endogenous nuclease domain. Here, we discuss the diversity of Argonaute proteins from a structural and functional perspective.