http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674(12)01541-3
Cell, Volume 152, Issue 1, 68-81, 17 January 2013
Copyright 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
10.1016/j.cell.2012.12.019
AuthorsXu Jia, Jing Zhang, Wenxia Sun, Weizhi He, Hengyi Jiang, Dongrong Chen, Alastair I.H. MurchieSee Affiliations
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Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, the Ministry of Education, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fudan University Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai 200032, China Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai 200032, China School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Zhang Heng Road 826, Pudong, 201203, Shanghai, China Department of Biomedical Science, Chengdu Medical College, Tian Hui Road 601, 610083, Chengdu, China Corresponding author These authors contributed equally to this work
- Highlights
- The 5 leader RNA of aminoglycoside antibiotic-resistance genes is conserved
- Aminoglycosides induce reporter gene expression by interacting with the leader RNA
- The aminoglycosides bind to the leader RNA and induce a change in the RNA structure
- Induction is independent of leader peptide stalling or drug-ribosome interactions
SummaryThe majority of riboswitches are regulatory RNAs that regulate gene expression by binding small-molecule metabolites. Here we report the discovery of an aminoglycoside-binding riboswitch that is widely distributed among antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. This riboswitch is present in the leader RNA of the resistance genes that encode the aminoglycoside acetyl transferase (AAC) and aminoglycoside adenyl transferase (AAD) enzymes that confer resistance to aminoglycoside antibiotics through modification of the drugs. We show that expression of the AAC and AAD resistance genes is regulated by aminoglycoside binding to a secondary structure in their 5 leader RNA. Reporter gene expression, direct measurements of drug RNA binding, chemical probing, and UV crosslinking combined with mutational analysis demonstrate that the leader RNA functions as an aminoglycoside-sensing riboswitch in which drug binding to the leader RNA leads to the induction of aminoglycosides antibiotic resistance.
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