Identification of the gene encoding a type 1 RNase H with an N-terminal double-stranded RNA binding domain from a psychrotrophic bacterium

The catalytic mechanism, metal dependence, substrate specificity, and biodiversity of ribonuclease H

Ribonucleoside monophosphates are inevitably misincorporated into the DNA genome inside cells, and they need to be excised to avoid chromosome instability. Ribonucleases H (RNases H) are enzymes that specifically hydrolyze the RNA strand of RNA/DNA hybrids or the RNA moiety from DNA containing a stretch of RNA, they therefore are required for DNA integrity. Extensive studies have drawn a mostly clear picture of the mechanisms of RNase H catalysis, but some questions are still lacking definitive answers. This review summarizes three alternative models of RNase H catalysis. The two-metal model is prevalent, but a three-metal model suggests the involvement of a third cation in catalysis. Apparently, the mechanisms underlying metal-dependent hydrolyzation are more complicated than initially thought. We also discuss the metal choices of RNases H and analyze how chemically similar cations function differently. Substrate and cleavage-site specificities vary among RNases H, and this is explicated in detail. An intriguing phenomenon is that organisms have diverse RNase H combinations, which may provide important hints to how rnh genes were transferred during evolution. Whether RNase H is essential for cellular growth, a key question in the study of in vivo functions, is also discussed. This article may aid in understanding the mechanisms underlying RNase H and in developing potentially promising applications of it.

RNases H: Structure and mechanism

RNases H are a family of endonucleases that hydrolyze RNA residues in various nucleic acids. These enzymes are present in all branches of life, and their counterpart domains are also found in reverse transcriptases (RTs) from retroviruses and retroelements. RNases H are divided into two main classes (RNases H1 and H2 or type 1 and type 2 enzymes) with common structural features of the catalytic domain but different range of substrates for enzymatic cleavage. Additionally, a third class is found in some Archaea and bacteria. Besides distinct cellular functions specific for each type of RNases H, this family of proteins is generally involved in the maintenance of genome stability with overlapping and cooperative role in removal of R-loops thus preventing their accumulation. Extensive biochemical and structural studies of RNases H provided not only a comprehensive and complete picture of their mechanism but also revealed key basic principles of nucleic acid recognition and processing. RNase H1 is present in prokaryotes and eukaryotes and cleaves RNA in RNA/DNA hybrids. Its main function is hybrid removal, notably in the context of R-loops. RNase H2, which is also present in all branches of life, can play a similar role but it also has a specialized function in the cleavage of single ribonucleotides embedded in the DNA. RNase H3 is present in Archaea and bacteria and is closely related to RNase H2 in sequence and structure but has RNase H1-like biochemical properties. This review summarizes the mechanisms of substrate recognition and enzymatic cleavage by different classes of RNases H with particular insights into structural features of nucleic acid binding, specificity towards RNA and/or DNA strands and catalysis.

DNA/RNA heteroduplex oligonucleotide for highly efficient gene silencing

Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) are recognized therapeutic agents for the modulation of specific genes at the post-transcriptional level. Similar to any medical drugs, there are opportunities to improve their efficacy and safety. Here we develop a short DNA/RNA heteroduplex oligonucleotide (HDO) with a structure different from double-stranded RNA used for short interfering RNA and single-stranded DNA used for ASO. A DNA/locked nucleotide acid gapmer duplex with an α-tocopherol-conjugated complementary RNA (Toc-HDO) is significantly more potent at reducing the expression of the targeted mRNA in liver compared with the parent single-stranded gapmer ASO. Toc-HDO also improves the phenotype in disease models more effectively. In addition, the high potency of Toc-HDO results in a reduction of liver dysfunction observed in the parent ASO at a similar silencing effect. HDO technology offers a novel concept of therapeutic oligonucleotides, and the development of this molecular design opens a new therapeutic field.

Role of RNase H1 in DNA repair: removal of single ribonucleotide misincorporated into DNA in collaboration with RNase H2

Several RNases H1 cleave the RNA-DNA junction of Okazaki fragment-like RNA-DNA/DNA substrate. This activity, termed 3’-junction ribonuclease (3’-JRNase) activity, is different from the 5’-JRNase activity of RNase H2 that cleaves the 5’-side of the ribonucleotide of the RNA-DNA junction and is required to initiate the ribonucleotide excision repair pathway. To examine whether RNase H1 exhibits 3’-JRNase activity for dsDNA containing a single ribonucleotide and can remove this ribonucleotide in collaboration with RNase H2, cleavage of a DNA₈-RNA₁-DNA₉/DNA₁₈ substrate with E. coli RNase H1 and H2 was analyzed. This substrate was cleaved by E. coli RNase H1 at the (5’)RNA-DNA(3’) junction, regardless of whether it was cleaved by E. coli RNase H2 at the (5’)DNA-RNA(3’) junction in advance or not. Likewise, this substrate was cleaved by E. coli RNase H2 at the (5’)DNA-RNA(3’) junction, regardless of whether it was cleaved by E. coli RNase H1 at the (5’)RNA-DNA(3’) junction in advance or not. When this substrate was cleaved by a mixture of E. coli RNases H1 and H2, the ribonucleotide was removed from the substrate. We propose that RNase H1 is involved in the excision of single ribonucleotides misincorporated into DNA in collaboration with RNase H2.

Role of N-terminal extension of Bacillus stearothermophilus RNase H2 and C-terminal extension of Thermotoga maritima RNase H2

Bacillus stearothermophilus RNase H2 (BstRNH2) and Thermotoga maritima RNase H2 (TmaRNH2) have N-terminal and C-terminal extensions, respectively, as compared with Aquifex aeolicus RNase H2 (AaeRNH2). To analyze the role of these extensions, BstRNH2 and TmaRNH2 without these extensions were constructed, and their biochemical properties were compared with those of their intact partners and AaeRNH2. The far-UV CD spectra of all proteins were similar, suggesting that the protein structure is not significantly altered by removal of these extensions. However, both the junction ribonuclease and RNase H activities of BstRNH2 and TmaRNH2, as well as their substrate-binding affinities, were considerably decreased by removal of these extensions. The stability of BstRNH2 and TmaRNH2 was also decreased by removal of these extensions. The activity, substrate binding affinity and stability of TmaRNH2 without the C-terminal 46 residues were partly restored by the attachment of the N-terminal extension of BstRNH2. These results suggest that the N-terminal extension of BstRNH2 functions as a substrate-binding domain and stabilizes the RNase H domain. Because the C-terminal extension of TmaRNH2 assumes a helix hairpin structure and does not make direct contact with the substrate, this extension is probably required to make the conformation of the substrate-binding site functional. AaeRNH2 showed comparable junction ribonuclease activity to those of BstRNH2 and TmaRNH2, and was more stable than these proteins, indicating that bacterial RNases H2 do not always require an N-terminal or C-terminal extension to increase activity, substrate-binding affinity, and/or stability.

Evidence for a dual functional role of a conserved histidine in RNA·DNA heteroduplex cleavage by human RNase H1

Ribonuclease H1 is a conserved enzyme that cleaves the RNA strand of RNA·DNA heteroduplexes and has important functions in the nuclear and mitochondrial compartments. The therapeutic action of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides involves the recruitment of RNase H1 to cleave disease-relevant RNA targets. Recombinant human (Hs) RNase H1 was purified from a bacterial expression host, and conditions were identified that provided optimal oligonucleotide-directed RNA cleavage in vitro. Hs-RNase H1 exhibits optimal catalytic activity in pH 7.5 HEPES buffer and a salt (KCl) concentration of ~ 100-150 mm. Mg(2+) best supports Hs-RNase H1 with an optimal concentration of 10 mm, but at higher concentrations inhibits enzyme activity. Mn(2+) and Co(2+) also support catalytic activity, while Ni(2+) and Zn(2+) exhibit only modest activities as cofactors. The optimized assay was used to show that an antisense oligonucleotide, added in substoichiometric amounts to initiate RNA cleavage, supports up to 30 rounds of reaction in 30 min. Mutation to alanine of the conserved histidine at position 264 causes an ~ 100-fold decrease in k(cat) under multiple-turnover conditions, but does not alter K(m) . Under single-turnover conditions, the H264A mutant exhibits a 12-fold higher exponential time constant for substrate cleavage. The defective activity of the H264A mutant is not rescued in either assay condition by higher Mg(2+) concentrations. These data implicate the H264 side chain in phosphodiester hydrolysis as well as in product release, and are consistent with a proposed model in which the H264 side chain interacts with a divalent metal ion to support catalysis.

Structure and characterization of RNase H3 from Aquifex aeolicus

The crystal structure of ribonuclease H3 from Aquifex aeolicus (Aae-RNase H3) was determined at 2.0 Å resolution. Aae-RNase H3 consists of an N-terminal TATA box-binding protein (TBP)-like domain (N-domain) and a C-terminal RNase H domain (C-domain). The structure of the C-domain highly resembles that of Bacillus stearothermophilus RNase H3 (Bst-RNase H3), except that it contains three disulfide bonds, and the fourth conserved glutamate residue of the Asp-Glu-Asp-Glu active site motif (Glu198) is located far from the active site. These disulfide bonds were shown to contribute to hyper-stabilization of the protein. Non-conserved Glu194 was identified as the fourth active site residue. The structure of the N-domain without the C-domain also highly resembles that of Bst-RNase H3. However, the arrangement of the N-domain relative to the C-domain greatly varies for these proteins because of the difference in the linker size between the domains. The linker of Bst-RNase H3 is relatively long and flexible, while that of Aae-RNase H3 is short and assumes a helix formation. Biochemical characterizations of Aae-RNase H3 and its derivatives without the N- or C-domain or with a mutation in the N-domain indicate that the N-domain of Aae-RNase H3 is important for substrate binding, and uses the flat surface of the β-sheet for substrate binding. However, this surface is located far from the active site and on the opposite side to the active site. We propose that the N-domain of Aae-RNase H3 is required for initial contact with the substrate. The resulting complex may be rearranged such that only the C-domain forms a complex with the substrate.

Ribonuclease H: molecular diversities, substrate binding domains, and catalytic mechanism of the prokaryotic enzymes

The prokaryotic genomes, for which complete nucleotide sequences are available, always contain at least one RNase H gene, indicating that RNase H is ubiquitous in all prokaryotic cells. Coupled with its unique substrate specificity, the enzyme has been expected to play crucial roles in the biochemical processes associated with DNA replication, gene expression and DNA repair. The physiological role of prokaryotic RNases H, especially of type 1 RNases H, has been extensively studied using Escherichia coli strains that are defective in RNase HI activity or overproduce RNase HI. However, it is not fully understood yet. By contrast, significant progress has been made in this decade in identifying novel RNases H with respect to their biochemical properties and structures, and elucidating catalytic mechanism and substrate recognition mechanism of RNase H. We review the results of these studies.