PMID: 28368279

Authors:

Coburn K, Melville Z, Aligholizadeh E, Roth BM, Varney KM, Carrier F, Pozharski E, Weber DJ

Title:

Crystal structure of the human heterogeneous ribonucleoprotein A18 RNA-recognition motif.

Journal:

Acta Crystallogr F Struct Biol Commun. 2017 Apr 1;73(Pt 4):209-214. doi:, 10.1107/S2053230X17003454. Epub 2017 Mar 22.

Abstract:

The heterogeneous ribonucleoprotein A18 (hnRNP A18) is upregulated in hypoxic regions of various solid tumors and promotes tumor growth via the coordination of mRNA transcripts associated with pro-survival genes. Thus, hnRNP A18 represents an important therapeutic target in tumor cells. Presented here is the first X-ray crystal structure to be reported for the RNA-recognition motif of hnRNP A18. By comparing this structure with those of homologous RNA-binding proteins (i.e. hnRNP A1), three residues on one face of an antiparallel beta-sheet (Arg48, Phe50 and Phe52) and one residue in an unstructured loop (Arg41) were identified as likely to be involved in protein-nucleic acid interactions. This structure helps to serve as a foundation for biophysical studies of this RNA-binding protein and structure-based drug-design efforts for targeting hnRNP A18 in cancer, such as malignant melanoma, where hnRNP A18 levels are elevated and contribute to disease progression.