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Science 1 October 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5693, pp. 104 - 107
DOI: 10.1126/science.1101489
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Reports

Basis for Structural Diversity in Homologous RNAs

Andrey S. Krasilnikov,1 Yinghua Xiao,1 Tao Pan,2 Alfonso Mondragón1*

Large RNA molecules, such as ribozymes, fold with well-defined tertiary structures that are important for their activity. There are many instances of ribozymes with identical function but differences in their secondary structures, suggesting alternative tertiary folds. Here, we report a crystal structure of the 161-nucleotide specificity domain of an A-type ribonuclease P that differs in secondary and tertiary structure from the specificity domain of a B-type molecule. Despite the differences, the cores of the domains have similar three-dimensional structure. Remarkably, the similar geometry of the cores is stabilized by a different set of interactions involving distinct auxiliary elements.

1 Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
2 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, 920 East 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: a-mondragon{at}northwestern.edu

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