The conformational plasticity of eukaryotic RNA-dependent ATPases

RNA helicases are present in all domains of life and participate in almost all aspects of RNA metabolism, from transcription and processing to translation and decay. The diversity of pathways and substrates that they act on is reflected in the diversity of their individual functions, structures, and mechanisms. However, RNA helicases also share hallmark properties. At the functional level, they promote rearrangements of RNAs and RNP particles by coupling nucleic acid binding and release with ATP hydrolysis. At the molecular level, they contain two domains homologous to the bacterial RecA recombination protein. This conserved catalytic core is flanked by additional domains, which typically regulate the ATPase activity in cis. Binding to effector proteins targets or regulates the ATPase activity in trans. Structural and biochemical studies have converged on the plasticity of RNA helicases as a fundamental property that is used to control their timely activation in the cell. In this review, we focus on the conformational regulation of conserved eukaryotic RNA helicases.