The Trypanosoma brucei editosome catalyzes the maturation of mitochondrial mRNAs through the insertion and deletion of uridylates and contains at least 16 stably associated proteins. We examined physical and functional associations among these proteins using three different approaches: purification of complexes via tagged editing ligases TbREL1 and TbREL2, comprehensive yeast two-hybrid analysis, and coimmunoprecipitation of recombinant proteins. A purified TbREL1 subcomplex catalyzed precleaved deletion editing in vitro, while a purified TbREL2 subcomplex catalyzed precleaved insertion editing in vitro. The TbREL1 subcomplex contained three to four proteins, including a putative exonuclease, and appeared to be coordinated by the zinc finger protein TbMP63. The TbREL2 subcomplex had a different composition, contained the TbMP57 terminal uridylyl transferase, and appeared to be coordinated by the TbMP81 zinc finger protein. This study provides insight into the molecular architecture of the editosome and supports the existence of separate subcomplexes for deletion and insertion editing.

Decoding post-transcriptional regulatory programs in RNA is a critical step in the larger goal to develop predictive dynamical models of cellular behavior. Despite recent efforts1–3, the vast landscape of RNA regulatory elements remain largely uncharacterized. A longstanding obstacle is the contribution of local RNA secondary structure in defining interaction partners in a variety of regulatory contexts, including but not limited to transcript stability3, alternative splicing4 and localization3. There are many documented instances where the presence of a structural regulatory element dictates alternative splicing patterns (e.g. human cardiac troponin T) or affects other aspects of RNA biology5. Thus, a full characterization of post-transcriptional regulatory programs requires capturing information provided by both local secondary structures and the underlying sequence3,6. We have developed a computational framework based on context-free grammars3,7 and mutual information2 that systematically explores the immense space of small structural elements and reveals motifs that are significantly informative of genome-wide measurements of RNA behavior. The application of this framework to genome-wide mammalian mRNA stability data revealed eight highly significant elements with substantial structural information, for the strongest of which we showed a major role in global mRNA regulation. Through biochemistry, mass-spectrometry, and in vivo binding studies, we identified HNRPA2B1 as the key regulator that binds this element and stabilizes a large number of its target genes. Ultimately, we created a global post-transcriptional regulatory map based on the identity of the discovered linear and structural cis-regulatory elements, their regulatory interactions and their target pathways. This approach can also be employed to reveal the structural elements that modulate other aspects of RNA behavior.

RNA editing in kinetoplastid mitochondria occurs by a series of enzymatic steps that is catalyzed by a macromolecular complex. Four novel proteins and their corresponding genes were identified by mass spectrometric analysis of purified editing complexes from Trypanosoma brucei. These four proteins, TbMP81, TbMP63, TbMP42, and TbMP18, contain conserved sequences to various degrees. All four proteins have sequence similarity in the C terminus; TbMP18 has considerable sequence similarity to the C-terminal region of TbMP42, and TbMP81, TbMP63, and TbMP42 contain zinc finger motif(s). Monoclonal antibodies that are specific for TbMP63 and TbMP42 immunoprecipitate in vitro RNA editing activities. The proteins are present in the immunoprecipitates and sediment at 20S along with the in vitro editing, and RNA editing ligases TbMP52 and TbMP48. Recombinant TbMP63 and TbMP52 coimmunoprecipitate. These results indicate that these four proteins are components of the RNA editing complex and that TbMP63 and TbMP52 can interact.RNA editing in trypanosomes posttranscriptionally inserts and deletes uridylates (U's) at multiple sites in most mitochondrial pre-mRNAs to produce mature mRNAs. U insertion and deletion are directed by guide RNAs (gRNAs) and are catalyzed by a macromolecular complex. Editing occurs by a series of enzymatic steps that include endoribonuclease, 3Ј terminal uridylyl transferase (TUTase), 3Ј exouridylylase, and RNA ligase activities (reviewed in references 3, 8, 21, and 23). Although editing can be extensive, with the insertion and deletion of numerous U's, it is also very specific. The characteristics of the enzymatic activities contribute to this specificity (7), but noncatalytic proteins may be required for editing and may contribute to the specificity.RNA editing is catalyzed by a 20S ribonucleoprotein complex (2, 15), and identification of its components and the composition of the fully functional complex is at an early stage. Initial studies estimated that a complex that can catalyze at least some of the steps of editing in vitro contains 7 to 20 polypeptides (11,14,16). Two related proteins, TbMP52 and TbMP48, were identified by mass spectrometric analysis of purified editing complexes (14), and TbMP52 was shown to be essential for RNA editing and for survival of bloodstream forms in vivo and in vitro (19). In addition, TbMP52 and TbMP48 correspond to the larger and smaller adenylatable proteins in the RNA editing complex, respectively, and were found to be RNA ligases (12,17,19). TbMP52 corresponds to T. brucei V and T. brucei p52 and TbMP48 corresponds to T. brucei IV and T. brucei p48 (12,17). The fully functional editing complex, which may consist of a catalytic core complex and accessory and regulatory factors may contain numerous proteins. Several other candidate proteins, some of which have RNA binding activities, have been described and may play a role in RNA editing (6, 9, 11, 13, 25). However, except for mHel61p (13), none of these proteins have been shown to play a direct role in editing.I...

RNA editing in kinetoplastid mitochondria inserts and deletes uridylates at multiple sites in pre-mRNAs as directed by guide RNAs. This occurs by a series of steps that are catalyzed by endoribonuclease, 3-terminal uridylyl transferase, 3-exouridylylase, and RNA ligase activities. A multiprotein complex that contains these activities and catalyzes deletion editing in vitro was enriched from Trypanosoma brucei mitochondria by sequential ion-exchange and gel filtration chromatography, followed by glycerol gradient sedimentation. The complex size is approximately 1,600 kDa, and the purified fraction contains 20 major polypeptides. A monoclonal antibody that was generated against the enriched complex reacts with an ϳ49-kDa protein and specifically immunoprecipitates in vitro deletion RNA editing activity. The protein recognized by the antibody was identified by mass spectrometry, and the corresponding gene, designated TbMP52, was cloned. Recombinant TbMP52 reacts with the monoclonal antibody. Another novel protein, TbMP48, which is similar to TbMP52, and its gene were also identified in the enriched complex. These results suggest that TbMP52 and TbMP48 are components of the RNA editing complex.Several mitochondrial RNAs are posttranscriptionally edited in kinetoplastid protozoa by the insertion and deletion of uridylates (U's) at multiple sites, to produce mature mRNAs. RNA editing creates initiation and termination codons and the likely functional open reading frames (ORFs). Indeed, translation of edited RNA has recently been directly demonstrated (11). The RNA editing appears to regulate mitochondrial respiration in different life cycle stages of Trypanosoma brucei. The insertion and deletion of U's is directed by small RNAs that are called guide RNAs (gRNAs). The editing occurs by a series of enzymatic steps. These steps include gRNA-directed cleavage of the pre-mRNA by endoribonuclease, U addition or removal at the 3Ј end of the 5Ј cleavage product by 3Ј-terminal uridylyl transferase (TUTase) or 3Ј-exouridylylase, respectively, and ligation of 5Ј and 3Ј cleavage products by RNA ligase (reviewed in references 6, 13, and 28).RNA editing occurs in association with a ribonucleoprotein complex which sediments at 20S in glycerol gradients (4, 22). Fractionation and hence partial purification of the complex by glycerol gradient and liquid chromatographic techniques have been reported (4,18,22,24). For the most part, these preparations were insufficient to identify specific proteins that are part of the editing complex. However, Rusché et al. (24) suggested that a complex of eight proteins could catalyze editing. They concluded that three of these proteins were adenylylatable and suggested that they represented the editing RNA ligase, although the role of these proteins has not yet been demonstrated. Indeed, little progress has been made on the definitive identification of proteins that are components of the editing complex. Three T. brucei mitochondrial proteins, gBP21 (15), DEAD box protein mHEL61p (19), and REAP1 (18...

RNA editing produces mature trypanosome mitochondrial mRNAs by uridylate (U) insertion and deletion. In insertion editing, Us are added to the pre-mRNA by a 3' terminal uridylyl transferase (TUTase) activity. We report the identification of a TUTase activity that copurifies with in vitro editing and is catalyzed by the integral editosome protein TbMP57. TbMP57 catalyzes the addition of primarily a single U to single-stranded (ss) RNA and adds the number of Us specified by a guide RNA to insertion editing-like substrates. TbMP57 is distinct from a previously identified TUTase that adds many Us to ssRNA and which we find is neither a stable editosome component nor does it add Us to editing-like substrates. Recombinant TbMP57 specifically interacts with the editosome protein TbMP81, and this interaction enhances the TUTase activity. These results suggest that TbMP57 catalyzes U addition to pre-mRNA during editing.

Uridylate insertion/deletion RNA editing in Trypanosoma brucei mitochondria is catalyzed by a multiprotein complex, the ;20S editosome. Editosomes purified via three related tagged RNase III proteins, KREN1 (KREPB1/TbMP90), KREPB2 (TbMP67), and KREN2 (KREPB3/TbMP61), had very similar but nonidentical protein compositions, and only the tagged member of these three RNase III proteins was identified in each respective complex. Three new editosome proteins were also identified in these complexes. Each tagged complex catalyzed both precleaved insertion and deletion editing in vitro. However, KREN1 complexes cleaved deletion but not insertion editing sites in vitro, and, conversely, KREN2 complexes cleaved insertion but not deletion editing sites. These specific nuclease activities were abolished by mutations in the putative RNase III catalytic domain of the respective proteins. Thus editosomes appear to be heterogeneous in composition with KREN1 complexes catalyzing cleavage of deletion sites and KREN2 complexes cleaving insertion sites while both can catalyze the U addition, U removal, and ligation steps of editing.

The editosome is a multiprotein complex that catalyzes the insertion and deletion of uridylates that occurs during RNA editing in trypanosomatids. We report the identification of nine novel editosome proteins in Trypanosoma brucei. They were identified by mass spectrometric analysis of functional editosomes that were purified by serial ion exchange/gel permeation chromatography, immunoaffinity chromatography specific to the TbMP63 editosome protein, or tandem affinity purification based on a tagged RNA editing ligase. The newly identified proteins have ribonuclease and/or RNA binding motifs suggesting nuclease function for at least some of these. Five of the proteins are interrelated, as are two others, and one is related to four previously identified editosome proteins. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Most mitochondrial mRNAs are edited in Trypanosoma brucei by a series of steps that are catalyzed by a multienzyme complex that is in its initial stages of characterization. RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated repression of the expression of TbMP81, a zinc ®nger protein component of the complex, inhibited growth of bloodstream and insect forms, and blocked in vivo RNA editing. This repression preferentially inhibited insertion editing compared with deletion editing in vitro. It resulted in reduced speci®c endoribonucleolytic cleavage and a greater reduction of U addition and associated RNA ligation activities than U removal and associated RNA ligation activities. The repressed cells retained 20S editing complexes with several demonstrable proteins and adenylatable TbMP52 RNA ligase, but adenlyatable TbMP48 was not detected. Elimination of TbMP48 by RNAi repression did not inhibit cell growth or in vivo editing in either bloodstream or procyclic forms. These results indicate that TbMP81 is required for RNA editing and suggest that the editing complex is functionally partitioned.