Analysis of the functional role of conserved residues in the protein subunit of ribonuclease P from Escherichia coli

Venkat Gopalan, Andreas D. Baxevanis, David Landsman, Sidney Altman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

71 Scopus citations

Abstract

The processing of precursor tRNAs and some other small cellular RNAs by M1 RNA, the catalytic subunit of Escherichia coli ribonuclease P, is accelerated by C5 protein (the protein cofactor) both in vitro and in vivo. In an effort to understand the mechanism by which the protein cofactor promotes and stabilizes certain conformations of M1 RNA that are most efficient for RNase P catalysis, we have used site-directed mutagenesis to generate mutant derivatives of C5 protein and assessed their ability to promote RNase P catalysis in vivo and in vitro. Our results indicate that certain conserved hydrophobic and basic residues in C5 protein are important for its function and that single amino acid residue changes in C5 protein can alter the substrate specificity of the RNase P holoenzyme.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)818-829
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of molecular biology
Volume267
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 11 1997
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • RNase P protein subunit
  • Site-directed mutagenesis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Structural Biology
  • Molecular Biology

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