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Blythe AJ, Yazar-Klosinski B, Webster MW, Chen E, Vandevenne M, Bendak K, Mackay JP, Hartzog GA, Vrielink A. The yeast transcription elongation factor Spt4/5 is a sequence-specific RNA binding protein. Protein Sci 2016; 25:1710-21. [PMID: 27376968 DOI: 10.1002/pro.2976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2016] [Revised: 06/26/2016] [Accepted: 06/29/2016] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The heterodimeric transcription elongation factor Spt4/Spt5 (Spt4/5) tightly associates with RNAPII to regulate both transcriptional elongation and co-transcriptional pre-mRNA processing; however, the mechanisms by which Spt4/5 acts are poorly understood. Recent studies of the human and Drosophila Spt4/5 complexes indicate that they can bind nucleic acids in vitro. We demonstrate here that yeast Spt4/5 can bind in a sequence-specific manner to single stranded RNA containing AAN repeats. Furthermore, we show that the major protein determinants for RNA-binding are Spt4 together with the NGN domain of Spt5 and that the KOW domains are not required for RNA recognition. These findings attribute a new function to a domain of Spt4/5 that associates directly with RNAPII, making significant steps towards elucidating the mechanism behind transcriptional control by Spt4/5.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda J Blythe
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia
| | - Berra Yazar-Klosinski
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 95064
| | - Michael W Webster
- School of Molecular Bioscience, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
| | - Eefei Chen
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 95064
| | - Marylène Vandevenne
- School of Molecular Bioscience, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
| | - Katerina Bendak
- School of Molecular Bioscience, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
| | - Joel P Mackay
- School of Molecular Bioscience, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
| | - Grant A Hartzog
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, 95064
| | - Alice Vrielink
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia
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