RNA pseudouridylation: new insights into an old modification

• Published in: Trends in biochemical sciences (Amsterdam. Regular ed.) Vol. 38; no. 4; pp. 210 - 218
• Main Authors: Ge, Junhui, Yu, Yi-Tao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2013
• Subjects: Animals; Base Pairing; Codon - genetics; eukaryotic cells; Humans; hydrogen bonding; Isomerism; isomerization; messenger RNA; Nucleic Acid Conformation; nucleotides; Pseudouridine - genetics; Pseudouridine - metabolism; ribonucleoproteins; Ribonucleoproteins - genetics; Ribonucleoproteins - metabolism; RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; RNA, Ribosomal - genetics; RNA, Ribosomal - metabolism; RNA, Small Nuclear - genetics; RNA, Small Nuclear - metabolism; Spliceosomes - genetics; Spliceosomes - metabolism; uridine
• ISSN: 0968-0004; 1362-4326
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tibs.2013.01.002

Pseudouridine is the most abundant post-transcriptionally modified nucleotide in various stable RNAs of all organisms. Pseudouridine is derived from uridine via base-specific isomerization, resulting in an extra hydrogen-bond donor that distinguishes it from other nucleotides. In eukaryotes, uridine-to-pseudouridine isomerization is catalyzed primarily by box H/ACA RNPs, ribonucleoproteins that act as pseudouridylases. When introduced into RNA, pseudouridine contributes significantly to RNA-mediated cellular processes. It was recently discovered that pseudouridylation can be induced by stress, suggesting a regulatory role for pseudouridine. It has also been reported that pseudouridine can be artificially introduced into mRNA by box H/ACA RNPs and that such introduction can mediate nonsense-to-sense codon conversion, thus demonstrating a new means of generating coding or protein diversity.