RRC ID 81685
Author Huang KW, Wu CY, Toh SI, Liu TC, Tu CI, Lin YH, Cheng AJ, Kao YT, Chu JW, Hsiao YY.
Title Molecular insight into the specific enzymatic properties of TREX1 revealing the diverse functions in processing RNA and DNA/RNA hybrids.
Journal Nucleic Acids Res
Abstract In various autoimmune diseases, dysfunctional TREX1 (Three prime Repair Exonuclease 1) leads to accumulation of endogenous single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) and DNA/RNA hybrids in the cytoplasm and triggers immune activation through the cGAS-STING pathway. Although inhibition of TREX1 could be a useful strategy for cancer immunotherapy, profiling cellular functions in terms of its potential substrates is a key step. Particularly important is the functionality of processing DNA/RNA hybrids and RNA substrates. The exonuclease activity measurements conducted here establish that TREX1 can digest both ssRNA and DNA/RNA hybrids but not dsRNA. The newly solved structures of TREX1-RNA product and TREX1-nucleotide complexes show that 2'-OH does not impose steric hindrance or specific interactions for the recognition of RNA. Through all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we illustrate that the 2'-OH-mediated intra-chain hydrogen bonding in RNA would affect the binding with TREX1 and thereby reduce the exonuclease activity. This notion of higher conformational rigidity in RNA leading TREX1 to exhibit weaker catalytic cleavage is further validated by the binding affinity measurements with various synthetic DNA-RNA junctions. The results of this work thus provide new insights into the mechanism by which TREX1 processes RNA and DNA/RNA hybrids and contribute to the molecular-level understanding of the complex cellular functions of TREX1 as an exonuclease.
Volume 51(21)
Pages 11927-11940
Published 2023-11-27
DOI 10.1093/nar/gkad910
PII 7327060
PMID 37870446
PMC PMC10681709
MeSH Animals DNA* / genetics DNA* / metabolism DNA, Single-Stranded / genetics Exodeoxyribonucleases / metabolism Mice Phosphoproteins / metabolism RNA* / genetics
IF 11.502
Resource
DNA material Full-length mouse Trex1 in pET28a (RDB20348)