The carboxy-terminal segment of the human LINE-1 ORF2 protein is involved in RNA binding

作者：Piskareva Olga^*; Ernst Christina; Higgins Niamh; Schmatchenko Vadim

来源：FEBS Open Bio, 2013, 3(1): 433-437.

DOI：10.1016/j.fob.2013.09.005

The human LINE-1/L1 ORF2 protein is a multifunctional enzyme which plays a vital role in the life cycle of the human L1 retrotransposon. The protein consists of an endonuclease domain, followed by a central reverse transcriptase domain and a carboxy-terminal C-domain with unknown function. Here, we explore the nucleic acid binding properties of the 180-amino acid carboxy-terminal segment (CTS) of the human L1 ORF2p in vitro. In a series of experiments involving gel shift assay, we demonstrate that the ITS of L1 ORF2p binds RNA in non-sequence-specific manner. Finally, we report that mutations destroying the putative Zn-knuckle structure of the protein do not significantly affect the level of RNA binding and discuss the possible functional role of the ITS in L1 retrotransposition.

• 出版日期2013