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OJB
Online Journal of Bioinformaticsâ
Volume 5 : 1-12, 2004
Molecular phylogenetics
and functional evolution of major RNA recognition domains of
recently cloned and characterized autoimmune RNA-binding particle.
Suleymanoglu E.
Institute of Biochemistry,
University of Vienna, Medical Faculty, Vienna Biocenter, Dr. Bohr-Gasse 9/3,
A-1030, Vienna, Austria
SUMMARY
Suleymanoglu E Molecular phylogenetics and functional
evolution of major RNA recognition domains of recently cloned and characterized
autoimmune RNA-binding particle Online J
Bioinformatics 5: 1-12, 2004 Heterogeneous nuclear
ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) are spliceosomal macromolecular assemblages and
thus actively participate in pre-mRNA metabolism. They are composed of
evolutionarily conserved tandemly repeated motivs, where both RNA-binding and
protein-protein recognition occur to achieve cellular activities. By yet
unknown mechanisms these ribonucleoprotein particles are targeted by
autoantibodies and hence play significant role in variety of human systemic
autoimmune diseases. This feature makes them important prognostic markers in
terms of molecular epidemiology and pathogenesis of autoimmunity. Since
ribonucleoprotein (RNP) domain is one of the most conserved and widespread
scaffolds, evolutionary analyses of these RNA-binding domains can provide
further clues on disease-specific epitope formation. The study presented herein
represents a sequence comparison of RNA-recognition regions of recently cloned
and characterized human hnRNP A3 with those of other relevant hnRNP A/B-type
proteins. Their implications in human autoimmunity is particularly emphasized.
KEY WORDS: hnRNP
proteins, RNA folding, RNA-protein interactions