sRNA + degradosome act at translation initiation
Jun 6, 2024Cooperation of regulatory RNA and the RNA degradosome in transcript surveillance.
Nucleic Acids Research (2024) gkae455 https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkae455
Dr Katarzyna Bandyra and colleagues studied the mechanism by which a small regulatory RNA (sRNA) MicC can regulate the expression of the ompD gene in Salmonella. The MicC sRNA binds imperfectly to a specific region within the ompD mRNA, which signals RNase E to cut the ompD mRNA, leading to its degradation. Here, they discovered that the process begins when the ompD mRNA is part of a translation pre-initiation complex (PIC). The presence of RNase E and other components of the RNA degradosome (a multi-enzyme complex involved in RNA degradation) is necessary for the cleavage to occur. The paused PIC exposes the mRNA, making it accessible for targeted degradation by RNase E.
