Bozděchová L, Havlová K, Fajkus P, Fajkus J. Analysis of Telomerase RNA Structure in Physcomitrium patens Indicates Functionally Relevant Transitions Between OPEN and CLOSED Conformations.
J Mol Biol 2024;
436:168417. [PMID:
38143018 DOI:
10.1016/j.jmb.2023.168417]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/26/2023]
Abstract
Telomerase RNA (TR) conformation determines its function as a template for telomere synthesis and as a scaffold for the assembly of the telomerase nucleoprotein complex. Experimental analyses of TR secondary structure using DMS-Map Seq and SHAPE-Map Seq techniques show its CLOSED conformation as the consensus structure where the template region cannot perform its function. Our data show that the apparent discrepancy between experimental results and predicted TR functional conformation, mostly ignored in published studies, can be explained using data analysis based on single-molecule structure prediction from individual sequencing reads by the recently established DaVinci method. This method results in several clusters of secondary structures reflecting the structural dynamics of TR, possibly related to its multiple functional states. Interestingly, the presumed active (OPEN) conformation of TR corresponds to a minor fraction of TR under in vivo conditions. Therefore, structural polymorphism and dynamic TR transitions between CLOSED and OPEN conformations may be involved in telomerase activity regulation as a switch that functions independently of total TR transcript levels.
Collapse