Structural highlights
Disease
SEN34_HUMAN Pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 2. The disease is caused by variants affecting the gene represented in this entry.
Function
SEN34_HUMAN Constitutes one of the two catalytic subunit of the tRNA-splicing endonuclease complex, a complex responsible for identification and cleavage of the splice sites in pre-tRNA. It cleaves pre-tRNA at the 5'- and 3'-splice sites to release the intron. The products are an intron and two tRNA half-molecules bearing 2',3'-cyclic phosphate and 5'-OH termini. There are no conserved sequences at the splice sites, but the intron is invariably located at the same site in the gene, placing the splice sites an invariant distance from the constant structural features of the tRNA body. It probably carries the active site for 3'-splice site cleavage. The tRNA splicing endonuclease is also involved in mRNA processing via its association with pre-mRNA 3'-end processing factors, establishing a link between pre-tRNA splicing and pre-mRNA 3'-end formation, suggesting that the endonuclease subunits function in multiple RNA-processing events.[1]
Publication Abstract from PubMed
Heterotetrameric human transfer RNA (tRNA) splicing endonuclease TSEN catalyzes intron excision from precursor tRNAs (pre-tRNAs), utilizing two composite active sites. Mutations in TSEN and its associated RNA kinase CLP1 are linked to the neurodegenerative disease pontocerebellar hypoplasia (PCH). Despite the essential function of TSEN, the three-dimensional assembly of TSEN-CLP1, the mechanism of substrate recognition, and the structural consequences of disease mutations are not understood in molecular detail. Here, we present single-particle cryogenic electron microscopy reconstructions of human TSEN with intron-containing pre-tRNAs. TSEN recognizes the body of pre-tRNAs and pre-positions the 3' splice site for cleavage by an intricate protein-RNA interaction network. TSEN subunits exhibit large unstructured regions flexibly tethering CLP1. Disease mutations localize far from the substrate-binding interface and destabilize TSEN. Our work delineates molecular principles of pre-tRNA recognition and cleavage by human TSEN and rationalizes mutations associated with PCH.
Structural basis of substrate recognition by human tRNA splicing endonuclease TSEN.,Sekulovski S, Susac L, Stelzl LS, Tampe R, Trowitzsch S Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2023 Jun;30(6):834-840. doi: 10.1038/s41594-023-00992-y. , Epub 2023 May 25. PMID:37231152[2]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
References
- ↑ Paushkin SV, Patel M, Furia BS, Peltz SW, Trotta CR. Identification of a human endonuclease complex reveals a link between tRNA splicing and pre-mRNA 3' end formation. Cell. 2004 Apr 30;117(3):311-21. PMID:15109492
- ↑ Sekulovski S, Sušac L, Stelzl LS, Tampé R, Trowitzsch S. Structural basis of substrate recognition by human tRNA splicing endonuclease TSEN. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2023 Jun;30(6):834-840. PMID:37231152 doi:10.1038/s41594-023-00992-y
