Why Argonaute is needed to make microRNA target search fast and reliable

Journal article (2017)

Authors

M. Klein Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, BN/Martin Depken Lab - AS
S.D. Chandradoss Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, BN/Chirlmin Joo Lab - AS
S.M. Depken Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, BN/Martin Depken Lab - AS
C. Joo Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, BN/Chirlmin Joo Lab - AS
Research Group
BN/Martin Depken Lab (AS) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2017 M. Klein, S.D. Chandradoss, S.M. Depken, C. Joo
DOI
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2016.05.017
FRET Single molecule Argonaute Free-energy landscape Lateral diffusion MicroRNA target prediction MiRNA RNA silencing Search stability paradox Target Search Theoretical model
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Published Date

2017

Language

English

Faculty

Applied Sciences

Department

BN/Bionanoscience

Research Group

BN/Martin Depken Lab

Abstract

MicroRNA (miRNA) interferes with the translation of cognate messenger RNA (mRNA) by finding, preferentially binding, and marking it for degradation. To facilitate the search process, Argonaute (Ago) proteins come together with miRNA, forming a dynamic search complex. In this review we use the language of free-energy landscapes to discuss recent single-molecule and high-resolution structural data in the light of theoretical work appropriated from the study of transcription-factor search. We suggest that experimentally observed internal states of the Ago-miRNA search complex may have the explicit biological function of speeding up search while maintaining specificity.