Structural highlights
Function
[MALE_ECOLI] Involved in the high-affinity maltose membrane transport system MalEFGK. Initial receptor for the active transport of and chemotaxis toward maltooligosaccharides.
Evolutionary Conservation
Check, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf.
Publication Abstract from PubMed
RISC, the RNA-induced silencing complex, uses short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) or micro RNAs (miRNAs) to select its targets in a sequence-dependent manner. Key RISC components are Argonaute proteins, which contain two characteristic domains, PAZ and PIWI. PAZ is highly conserved and is found only in Argonaute proteins and Dicer. We have solved the crystal structure of the PAZ domain of Drosophila Argonaute2. The PAZ domain contains a variant of the OB fold, a module that often binds single-stranded nucleic acids. PAZ domains show low-affinity nucleic acid binding, probably interacting with the 3' ends of single-stranded regions of RNA. PAZ can bind the characteristic two-base 3' overhangs of siRNAs, indicating that although PAZ may not be a primary nucleic acid binding site in Dicer or RISC, it may contribute to the specific and productive incorporation of siRNAs and miRNAs into the RNAi pathway.
The crystal structure of the Argonaute2 PAZ domain reveals an RNA binding motif in RNAi effector complexes.,Song JJ, Liu J, Tolia NH, Schneiderman J, Smith SK, Martienssen RA, Hannon GJ, Joshua-Tor L Nat Struct Biol. 2003 Dec;10(12):1026-32. Epub 2003 Nov 16. PMID:14625589[1]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
References
- ↑ Song JJ, Liu J, Tolia NH, Schneiderman J, Smith SK, Martienssen RA, Hannon GJ, Joshua-Tor L. The crystal structure of the Argonaute2 PAZ domain reveals an RNA binding motif in RNAi effector complexes. Nat Struct Biol. 2003 Dec;10(12):1026-32. Epub 2003 Nov 16. PMID:14625589 doi:10.1038/nsb1016
