期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2008
卷号：105
期号：37
页码：13817-13822
DOI：10.1073/pnas.0805960105
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Prp8 stands out among hundreds of splicing factors as a key regulator of spliceosome activation and a potential cofactor of the splicing reaction. We present here the crystal structure of a 274-residue domain (residues 1,822-2,095) near the C terminus of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Prp8. The most striking feature of this domain is a {beta}-hairpin finger protruding out of the protein (hence, this domain will be referred to as the {beta}-finger domain), resembling many globular ribosomal proteins with protruding extensions. Mutations throughout the {beta}-finger change the conformational equilibrium between the first and the second catalytic step. Mutations at the base of the {beta}-finger affect U4/U6 unwinding-mediated spliceosome activation. Prp8 may insert its {beta}-finger into the first-step complex (U2/U5/U6/pre-mRNA) or U4/U6.U5 tri-snRNP and stabilize these complexes. Mutations on the {beta}-finger likely alter these interactions, leading to the observed mutant phenotypes. Our results suggest a possible mechanism of how Prp8 regulates spliceosome activation. These results also demonstrate an analogy between a spliceosomal protein and ribosomal proteins that insert extensions into folded rRNAs and stabilize the ribosome.
