Desthiobiotin (DTB)-modified and TAMRA-modified 2″OMeNAD+ are RNA 2'-phosphotransferase (Tpt1) poisons that enable

Renata Kasprzyk1, Shreya Ghosh2, Stewart Shuman3

  • 1Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78457, Germany shumans@mskcc.org renata.kasprzyk@hest.ethz.ch.

RNA (New York, N.Y.)
|September 18, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Researchers developed novel desthiobiotin and fluorescent analogs of NAD+ to study RNA 2'-phosphate modification. These analogs act as affinity probes, enabling the capture and detection of RNA 2'-phospho-(ADP-ribose) intermediates formed by the Tpt1 enzyme.

Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Enzymology

Background:

  • RNA 2 -phosphotransferase (Tpt1) removes internal RNA 2 -PO4 through a two-step mechanism involving NAD+.
  • A previously studied analog, 2 OMeNAD+, halts the reaction after step 1, producing a detectable intermediate.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To synthesize novel 2 OMeNAD+ analogs for probing RNA 2 -phosphate modification.
  • To evaluate the utility of desthiobiotin (DTB) and fluorescent (TAMRA) tagged analogs as affinity probes.

Main Methods:

  • Chemical synthesis of two novel 2 OMeNAD+ analogs with DTB linked to adenine.
  • Assay of RslTpt1 activity using the synthesized analogs.
  • Recovery of reaction products using streptavidin beads and biotin elution.
  • Synthesis and testing of a fluorescent 2 OMeNAD+-TAMRA derivative.

Main Results:

  • Both novel DTB-containing analogs inhibited RslTpt1 after step 1.
  • The 2 OMeNAD-2-DTB analog yielded a higher amount of the RNA-2 -phospho-(DTB-ADP-2 OMe-ribose) product.
  • The 2 OMeNAD-2-TAMRA analog effectively labeled RNA 2 -phosphate, enabling fluorescent detection.

Conclusions:

  • The 2 OMeNAD-2-DTB analog serves as an effective affinity-tag probe for RNA 2 -phosphate modification.
  • Fluorescent labeling of RNA 2 -phosphate is achievable using the 2 OMeNAD-2-TAMRA analog.