Structural basis for the polyuridylation to pre-microRNA

• Project/Area Number: 25840029
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Structural biochemistry
• Research Institution: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Takeshita Daijiro 国立研究開発法人産業技術総合研究所, バイオメディカル研究部門, 主任研究員 (80613265)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2015)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,550,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,050,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
• Keywords: X線結晶解析 / タンパク質 / RNA / X線結晶構造解析

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Binding of a specific miRNA to the target sequence on an mRNA induces the inhibition of its translation. This plays a role for the regulation of gene exression related to cell differenciation and cancer, etc. RNA binding protein LIN28 recruits TUT4 to pre-miRNAs to poly-uridylate its RNA terminus, which leads to the degradation of the pre-miRNA. The aims of this project are to determine the structure of TUT and its complex and to reveal the reaction mechanism. We crystallized the catalytic domain of TUT. We are trying to improve the X-ray diffraction pattern for the structural determination.