Lipid membranes modulate the activity of RNA through sequence-dependent interactions
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
RNA is a ubiquitous biomolecule that can serve as both catalyst and information carrier. Understanding how RNA bioactivity is controlled is crucial for elucidating its physiological roles and potential applications in synthetic biology. Here, we show that lipid membranes can act as RNA organization platforms, introducing a mechanism for riboregulation. The activity of R3C ribozyme can be modified by the presence of lipid membranes, with direct RNA-lipid interactions dependent on RNA nucleotide content, base pairing, and length. In particular, the presence of guanine in short RNAs is crucial for RNA-lipid interactions, and G-quadruplex formation further promotes lipid binding. Lastly, by artificially modifying the R3C substrate sequence to enhance membrane binding, we generated a lipid-sensitive ribozyme reaction with riboswitch-like behavior. These findings introduce RNA-lipid interactions as a tool for developing synthetic riboswitches and RNAbased lipid biosensors and bear significant implications for RNA world scenarios for the origin of life.
Details
Original language | English |
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Article number | e2119235119 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America : PNAS |
Volume | 119 |
Issue number | 4 |
Publication status | Published - 18 Jan 2022 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
Scopus | 85123101242 |
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unpaywall | 10.1073/pnas.2119235119 |
PubMed | 35042820 |
WOS | 000758464700003 |
Mendeley | c45f8e71-a129-3a1e-9ac3-595ea0c5ffb0 |
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Keywords
- Lipids, RNA, RNA world, Ribozymes, Base Sequence/genetics, Riboswitch/genetics, Binding Sites/genetics, RNA/chemistry, RNA, Catalytic/chemistry, Base Pairing/genetics, Cell Membrane/metabolism, Genetic Engineering/methods, Lipid Metabolism/physiology, Lipids/genetics, Nucleic Acid Conformation, Membrane Lipids/metabolism