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1: Cell. 2007 Sep 7;130(5):878-92.
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Structure and mechanism of a metal-sensing regulatory RNA.

Dann CE 3rd, Wakeman CA, Sieling CL, Baker SC, Irnov I, Winkler WC.

Department of Biochemistry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.

Organisms maintain the correct balance of intracellular metals primarily through metal-sensing proteins that control transport and storage of the target ion(s). Here, we reveal the basis of metal sensing and genetic control by a metalloregulatory RNA. Our data demonstrate that a previously uncharacterized orphan riboswitch, renamed the "M-box," is a divalent metal-sensing RNA involved in Mg(2+) homeostasis. A combination of genetic, biochemical, and biophysical techniques demonstrate that Mg(2+) induces a compacted tertiary architecture for M-box RNAs that regulates the accessibility of nucleotides involved in genetic control. Molecular details are provided by crystallographic structure determination of a Mg(2+)-bound M-box RNA. Given the distribution of this RNA element, it may constitute a common mode for bacterial metal ion regulation, and its discovery suggests the possibility of additional RNA-based metal sensors in modern and primordial organisms.

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PMID: 17803910 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]