Structural Characteristics of the 5′-Terminal Region of Mouse p53 mRNA and Identification of Proteins That Bind to This mRNA Region

A mouse model has often been used in studies of p53 gene expression. Detailed interpretation of functional studies is, however, hampered by insufficient knowledge of the impact of mouse p53 mRNA's structure and its interactions with proteins in the translation process. In particular, the 5 '-terminal region of mouse p53 mRNA is an important region which takes part in the regulation of the synthesis of p53 protein and its N-truncated isoform Delta 41p53. In this work, the spatial folding of the 5'-terminal region of mouse p53 mRNA and its selected sub-fragments was proposed based on the results of the SAXS method and the RNAComposer program. Subsequently, RNA-assisted affinity chromatography was used to identify proteins present in mouse fibroblast cell lysates that are able to bind the RNA oligomer, which corresponds to the 5'-terminal region of mouse p53 mRNA. Possible sites to which the selected, identified proteins can bind were proposed. Interestingly, most of these binding sites coincide with the sites determined as accessible to hybridization of complementary oligonucleotides. Finally, the high binding affinity of hnRNP K and PCBP2 to the 5 '-terminal region of mouse p53 mRNA was confirmed and their possible binding sites were proposed.

Automated summary

In this study, the spatial folding of the 5'-terminal region of mouse p53 mRNA was proposed using the SAXS method and the RNAComposer program. The RNA-assisted affinity chromatography technique was used to identify proteins that bind to this region. Most of the identified proteins were found to bind to the sites that are accessible for hybridization with complementary oligonucleotides. Additionally, hnRNP K and PCBP2 were found to have high binding affinity to the 5'-terminal region of mouse p53 mRNA.