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Published on: July 22, 2014
DEAH-RHA helicase•Znf cofactor systems in kinetoplastid RNA editing and evolutionarily distant RNA processes
Jorge Cruz-Reyes1, Blaine H M Mooers2, Zakaria Abu-Adas1
1Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
Abstract:
Multi-zinc finger proteins are an emerging class of cofactors in DEAH-RHA RNA helicases across highly divergent eukaryotic lineages. DEAH-RHA helicase•zinc finger cofactor partnerships predate the split of kinetoplastid protozoa, which include several human pathogens, from other eukaryotic lineages 100-400 Ma. Despite a long evolutionary history, the prototypical DEAH-RHA domains remain highly conserved. This short review focuses on a recently identified DEAH-RHA helicase•zinc finger cofactor system in kinetoplastid RNA editing, and its potential functional parallels with analogous systems in embryogenesis control in nematodes and antivirus protection in humans.
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