An RNA-Binding Complex Involved in Ribosome Biogenesis Contains a Protein with Homology to tRNA CCA-Adding Enzyme

Abstract

The structure of a complex of two ribosome synthesis factors and identification of their ribosomal binding sites provides insights into early stages of ribosome biogenesis.

Abstract

A multitude of proteins and small nucleolar RNAs transiently associate with eukaryotic ribosomal RNAs to direct their modification and processing and the assembly of ribosomal proteins. Utp22 and Rrp7, two interacting proteins with no recognizable domain, are components of the 90S preribosome or the small subunit processome that conducts early processing of 18S rRNA. Here, we determine the cocrystal structure of Utp22 and Rrp7 complex at 1.97 Å resolution and the NMR structure of a C-terminal fragment of Rrp7, which is not visible in the crystal structure. The structure reveals that Utp22 surprisingly resembles a dimeric class I tRNA CCA-adding enzyme yet with degenerate active sites, raising an interesting evolutionary connection between tRNA and rRNA processing machineries. Rrp7 binds extensively to Utp22 using a deviant RNA recognition motif and an extended linker. Functional sites on the two proteins were identified by structure-based mutagenesis in yeast. We show that Rrp7 contains a flexible RNA-binding C-terminal tail that is essential for association with preribosomes. RNA–protein crosslinking shows that Rrp7 binds at the central domain of 18S rRNA and shares a neighborhood with two processing H/ACA snoRNAs snR30 and snR10. Depletion of snR30 prevents the stable assembly of Rrp7 into preribosomes. Our results provide insight into the evolutionary origin and functional context of Utp22 and Rrp7.

Author Summary

Ribosomes are large RNA–protein complexes that manufacture proteins in all living organisms. Synthesis of large and small ribosomal subunits is a fundamental and enormous task that requires activities of approximately 200 assembly factors in eukaryotic cells. These factors transiently associate with the ribosome, forming a series of pre-ribosomal particles. We currently have a poor understanding of the structure and assembly of ribosome precursors. Utp22 and Rrp7 are two interacting proteins present in early precursors of the small ribosomal subunit. In this study, we determined the structure of the Utp22 and Rrp7 complex by X-ray crystallography and NMR and dissected their functional domains by mutagenesis. The structure of Utp22 reveals an unexpected structural similarity to the tRNA CCA-adding enzyme, providing insight into the evolutionary origin of Utp22. Utp22 apparently lacks any enzymatic activity and functions instead as a structural building block. Rrp7 associates extensively with Utp22 and appears to be anchored to pre-ribosomes via a flexible RNA-binding tail. We used RNA–protein crosslinking to identify the binding site and neighboring factor of Rrp7 on pre-ribosomes. Our study provides a detailed insight into the structure of small ribosomal subunit precursors.