Characterizing Protonation-Coupled Conformational Ensembles in RNA via pH-Differential Mutational Profiling with DMS Probing

J Am Chem Soc. 2023 Aug 30;145(34):18773-18777. doi: 10.1021/jacs.3c07736. Epub 2023 Aug 15.

Abstract

RNA molecules undergo conformational transitions in response to cellular and environmental stimuli. Site-specific protonation, a fundamental chemical property, can alter the conformational landscape of RNA to regulate their functions. However, characterizing protonation-coupled RNA conformational ensembles on a large scale remains challenging. Here, we present pH-differential mutational profiling (PD-MaP) with dimethyl sulfate probing for high-throughput detection of protonation-coupled conformational ensembles in RNA. We demonstrated this approach on microRNA-21 precursor (pre-miR-21) and recapitulated a previously discovered A+-G-coupled conformational ensemble. Additionally, we identified a secondary protonation event involving an A+-C mismatch. We validated the occurrence of both protonation-coupled ensembles in pre-miR-21 using NMR relaxation dispersion spectroscopy. Furthermore, the application of PD-MaP on a library of well-annotated human primary microRNAs uncovered widespread protonation-coupled conformational ensembles, suggesting their potentially broad functions in biology.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • MicroRNAs / chemistry
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation*

Substances

  • MicroRNAs