Abstract

Most RNA folding studies have been performed under non-physiological conditions of high concentrations (≥10 mM) of Mg2+free, while actual cellular concentrations of Mg2+free are only ~1 mM in a background of greater than 50 mM Mg2+total. To uncover cellular behavior of RNA, we devised cytoplasm mimic systems that include biological concentrations of amino acids, which weakly chelate Mg2+. Amino acid-chelated Mg2+ (aaCM) of ~15 mM dramatically increases RNA folding and prevents RNA degradation. Furthermore, aaCM enhance self-cleavage of several different ribozymes, up to 100,000-fold at Mg2+free of just 0.5 mM, indirectly through RNA compaction. Other metabolites that weakly chelate magnesium offer similar beneficial effects, which implies chelated magnesium may enhance RNA function in the cell in the same way. Overall, these results indicate that the states of Mg2+ should not be limited to free and bound only, as weakly bound Mg2+ strongly promotes RNA function under cellular conditions.

Details

Title
Cellular conditions of weakly chelated magnesium ions strongly promote RNA stability and catalysis
Author
Yamagami, Ryota 1 ; Bingaman, Jamie L 2 ; Frankel, Erica A 3 ; Bevilacqua, Philip C 4 

 Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; Center for RNA Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 
 Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; Center for RNA Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; Immunome, Inc., 665 Stockton Dr., Suite 300, Exton, PA, USA 
 Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; Center for RNA Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; The Dow Chemical Company, 400 Arcola Road, Collegeville, PA, USA 
 Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; Center for RNA Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA 
Pages
1-12
Publication year
2018
Publication date
Jun 2018
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2048611333
Copyright
© 2018. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.