Mutagenic Analysis of the C-Terminal Extension of Lsm1

The Sm-like proteins (also known as Lsm proteins) are ubiquitous in nature and exist as hexa or heptameric RNA binding complexes. They are characterized by the presence of the Sm-domain. The Lsm1 through Lsm7 proteins are highly conserved in eukaryotes and they form a hetero-octameric complex together with the protein Pat1. The Lsm1-7-Pat1 complex plays a key role in mRNA decapping and 3'-end protection and therefore is required for normal mRNA decay rates in vivo. Lsm1 is a key subunit that is critical for the unique RNA binding properties of this complex. We showed earlier that unlike most Sm-like proteins, Lsm1 uniquely requires both its Sm domain and its C-terminal extension to contribute to the function of the Lsm1-7-Pat1 complex and that the C-terminal segment can associate with the rest of the complex and support the function even in trans. The studies presented here identify a set of residues at the very C-terminal end of Lsm1 to be functionally important and suggest that these residues support the function of the Lsm1-7-Pat1 complex by facilitating RNA binding either directly or indirectly.