La antigen recognizes and binds to the 3'-oligouridylate tail of a small RNA

The La antigen is a cellular protein which interacts with many RNA species that are products of RNA polymerase III, including the adenovirus virus-associated (VA) RNAs. We demonstrate that the efficiency of antigen binding in vitro is determined by the number of U residues at the RNA 3' terminus. Forms of VA RNAI with more than two terminal U residues are fully bound, forms with two U residues are partially bound, and forms with fewer than two U residues are not bound at all. The antigen can be covalently linked to VA RNA by UV irradiation, and the site of cross-linking is shown to contain the 3' terminus of the RNA. We conclude that the antigen recognizes the U-rich 3' tail of VA RNA, and presumably that of other polymerase III products, and that it binds at or close to this site.