Maturation of chloroplast psaA pre-mRNA from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii requires the trans-splicing of two split group II introns. Several nuclear-encoded trans-splicing factors are required for the correct processing of psaA mRNA. Among these is the recently identified Raa4 protein, which is involved in splicing of the tripartite intron 1 of the psaA precursor mRNA. Part of this tripartite group II intron is the chloroplast encoded tscA RNA, which is specifically bound by Raa4. Using Raa4 as bait in a combined tandem affinity purification and mass spectrometry approach, we identified core components of a multisubunit ribonucleoprotein complex, including three previously identified trans-splicing factors (Raa1, Raa3, and Rat2). We further detected tscA RNA in the purified protein complex, which seems to be specific for splicing of the tripartite group II intron. Intron-containing genes from prokaryotic or organellar genomes carry either group I or group II introns, each of which has distinct features. The splicing mechanism of group II introns and the secondary structures of their presumed active sites were used as early arguments for the hypothesis that this class of introns represents the ancestors of eukaryotic spliceosomal introns (1, 2). It was further assumed that group II introns invaded the eukaryotic nucleus and subsequently proliferated at various genomic sites, leading to the degeneration of the catalytic intron structure into small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs).1 This assumption was supported by the observation of naturally occurring variants of group II introns that are split into two or more pieces (3), reminiscent of eukaryotic spliceosomal RNA (1). Group II intron RNAs are characterized by six conserved domains, and tertiary interactions among these domains generate the compact native and catalytic complex. Some of these group II intron domains have been shown to act in trans on the splicing of other introns that lack the corresponding domain (4). In vivo, various RNA-binding proteins promote the formation of catalytically active intron RNA. In contrast to the nuclear spliceosome, which acts generally on a broad range of nuclear-encoded pre-mRNAs, proteins involved in organellar intron splicing seem to more efficiently stabilize the active three-dimensional RNA structure in vivo. Several splicing factors in higher plants, such as the chloroplast RNA-splicing and ribosome maturation (CRM) domain protein CRS1, as well as the pentatricopeptide repeat proteins OTP51 and PPR4, have been reported to be involved in the splicing of single transcripts (5, 6). Nonetheless, there are splicing factors that carry out functions on a broad range of transcripts, including CRS2 and its associated proteins CAF1 and CAF2, and WTF1, a splicing factor containing a plant organelle RNA-recognition domain (5, 6). Sedimentation and co-fractionation experiments in, for example, maize have demonstrated that these proteins are part of large multiprotein and ribonucleoprotein complexes with their cognate RNAs (5, 7). I...

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In the chloroplast of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, two discontinuous group II introns, psaA-i1 and psaAi2, splice in trans, and thus their excision process resembles the nuclear spliceosomal splicing pathway. Here, we address the question whether fragmentation of trans-acting RNAs is accompanied by the formation of a chloroplast spliceosome-like machinery. Using a combination of liquid chromatographymass spectrometry (LC-MS), size exclusion chromatography, and quantitative RT-PCR, we provide the first characterization of a high molecular weight ribonucleoprotein apparatus participating in psaA mRNA splicing. This supercomplex contains two subcomplexes (I and II) that are responsible for trans-splicing of either psaA-i1 or psaA-i2. We further demonstrate that both subcomplexes are associated with intron RNA, which is a prerequisite for the correct assembly of subcomplex I. This study contributes further to our view of how the eukaryotic nuclear spliceosome evolved after bacterial endosymbiosis through fragmentation of self-splicing group II introns into a dynamic, protein-rich RNP machinery.The spliceosome is a dynamic RNP machinery that participates in the excision of mRNA introns in eukaryotes. This machinery consists of five small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs; U1, U2, U4, U5, and U6) and a large number of spliceosomal proteins (1, 2). It is generally accepted that spliceosomal snRNAs were derived from ancient group II introns, which were introduced into the eukaryotic cell after endosymbiosis (3, 4). Group II introns occur frequently in bacteria and organelles of fungi, algae, and higher plants but are rare in archaea and absent from nuclear genomes. Comparable with spliceosomal introns, the splicing reaction includes two transesterification reactions, yielding spliced exons and an excised intron lariat RNA.Despite the lack of significant sequence similarities, group II introns share a common secondary structure with six helical domains (D1-D6) surrounding a central wheel. During intron excision, these domains take over specific functions, and remarkably, they show plenty of functional and structural similarities to spliceosomal snRNAs (5-7). These similarities led to the assumption that during evolution of the nuclear splicing apparatus, group II introns fragmented and degenerated to spliceosomal snRNAs (3,8,9).In contrast to bacterial group II introns, most organelle group II introns display variant forms of degeneration and fragmentation (9). For example, many of the plant group II introns have mispaired domain structures (10, 11). Moreover, group II introns are able to split into autonomous fragments due to rearrangements of organelle genomes (12, 13). Consequently, they are transcribed independently, and association of precursor RNAs by base pairing generates a catalytically active group II intron structure that is finally processed by trans-splicing. Such degenerated and fragmented group II introns along with the interplay of discrete RNAs during the splicing reaction serve to demonstrate how snRNAs...

The mRNA maturation of the tripartite chloroplast psaA gene from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii depends on various nucleus-encoded factors that participate in trans splicing of two group II introns. Recently, a multiprotein complex was identified that is involved in processing the psaA precursor mRNA. Using coupled tandem affinity purification (TAP) and mass spectrometry analyses with the trans-splicing factor Raa4 as a bait protein, we recently identified a multisubunit ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex comprising the previously characterized trans-splicing factors Raa1, Raa3, Raa4, and Rat2 plus novel components. Raa1 and Rat2 share a structural motif, an octatricopeptide repeat (OPR), that presumably functions as an RNA interaction module. Two of the novel RNP complex components also exhibit a predicted OPR motif and were therefore considered potential trans-splicing factors. In this study, we selected bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones encoding these OPR proteins and conducted functional complementation assays using previously generated trans-splicing mutants. Our assay revealed that the trans-splicing defect of mutant F19 was restored by a new factor we named RAA8; molecular characterization of complemented strains verified that Raa8 participates in splicing of the first psaA group II intron. Three of six OPR motifs are located in the C-terminal end of Raa8, which was shown to be essential for restoring psaA mRNA trans splicing. Our results support the important role played by OPR proteins in chloroplast RNA metabolism and also demonstrate that combining TAP and mass spectrometry with functional complementation studies represents a vigorous tool for identifying trans-splicing factors. Interaction modules are crucial for the molecular and cellular function of proteins, and a wide repertoire of diverse domains and motifs mediates a variety of regulatory mechanisms. Proteins that exhibit a repeating structural unit with an ␣-helical architecture are classified as members of the ␣-solenoid superfamily (1). This large family is widely distributed in eukaryotes and includes, among others, the transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors, the tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) proteins, and the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins (2-4). The ␣-helical structure of diverse members mediates binding to either proteins or nucleic acids.A well-characterized example of RNA binding proteins is the PPR protein family (5). The degenerate PPR motif is described as two antiparallel, ␣-helical tracts of 35 amino acids, whose repeats are often arranged in tandem arrays. Recently, two approaches provided insights into the predictable RNA binding code of this motif (6, 7). Structural analyses indicate that RNA binding is mediated by helical tracts forming a superhelical groove with exposed residues. Despite the low sequence conservation of the PPR motif being restricted to several amino acids, PPR proteins specifically recognize single-stranded RNA sequences through a combinatorial amino acid code (2, 6, 7). Mod...

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is characterized by a profound disruption of proapoptotic signaling networks leading to chemo- and radioresistance. A key mediator of DNA damage-induced apoptosis is the BH3-only protein PUMA. Given its central role in proapoptotic signaling, we analyzed a series of more than 600 precision-annotated primary RCC specimens for PUMA protein expression. We found a reduced expression of PUMA in 22.6% of RCCs analyzed. Unexpectedly, however, PUMA deficiency was not associated with more aggressive tumor characteristic as expected. Instead, a reduced PUMA expression was associated with a lower TNM stage, lower histopathologic grade, and more favorable cancer-specific patient survival. A direct correlation in a separate patient cohort revealed a profound disconnection between PUMA expression and apoptosis as exemplified by the fact that the tumor with the highest level of apoptotic cells was PUMA deficient. In a series of in vitro studies, we corroborated these results and discovered the highest propensity to undergo apoptosis in an RCC cell line with virtually undetectable PUMA expression. At the same time, PUMA expression was not necessarily associated with stronger apoptosis induction, which underscores the striking functional heterogeneity of PUMA expression and apoptosis in RCC. Collectively, our findings suggest that PUMA-independent mechanisms of cell death exist and may play an important role in suppressing malignant progression. They underscore the functional heterogeneity of RCCs and suggest that PUMA expression alone may not be a suitable predictive biomarker. A better understanding of alternative proapoptotic pathways, however, may help to design novel therapeutic strategies for patients with advanced RCC.