The structure, function and evolution of proteins that bind DNA and RNA

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: William Hudson, Emory University; Eric Ortlund, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2014-11-01
• Publisher: Nature Research (part of Springer Nature): Review Journals
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrm3884
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology
• ISSN: 1471-0072
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 11
• Start Page: 749
• End Page: 760
• Grant/Funding Information: W.H.H. is supported by American Heart Association predoctoral fellowship 13PRE16920012 and was supported by a National Institutes of Health training grant to Emory University 5T32GM008602-14.; Work in the lab of E.A.O. is supported by R01DK095750 from the National Institutes of Health (NIDDK) and 14GRNT20460124 from the American Heart Association.
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Z-ALPHA DOMAIN; CSPA-FAMILY; SHOCK DOMAIN PROTEINS; MESSENGER-RNA; NONCODING RNA; GLUCOCORTICOID-RECEPTOR; COLD-SHOCK; ESCHERICHIA-COLI; NF-KAPPA-B; Cell Biology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; NUCLEIC-ACID-BINDING
• Research Categories: Biology, Cell; Chemistry, Biochemistry

Abstract

Proteins that bind both DNA and RNA typify the ability of a single gene product to perform multiple functions. Such DNA-and RNA-binding proteins (DRBPs) have unique functional characteristics that stem from their specific structural features; these developed early in evolution and are widely conserved. Proteins that bind RNA have typically been considered as functionally distinct from proteins that bind DNA and studied independently. This practice is becoming outdated, in partly owing to the discovery of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that target DNA-binding proteins. Consequently, DRBPs were found to regulate many cellular processes, including transcription, translation, gene silencing, microRNA biogenesis and telomere maintenance.