[HTML][HTML] Argonaute2 cleaves the anti-guide strand of siRNA during RISC activation

TA Rand, S Petersen, F Du, X Wang - Cell, 2005 - cell.com
TA Rand, S Petersen, F Du, X Wang
Cell, 2005cell.com
The mRNA-cleavage step of RNA interference is mediated by an endonuclease, Argonaute2
(Ago2), within the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). Ago2 uses one strand of the
small interfering (si) RNA duplex as a guide to find messenger RNAs containing
complementary sequences and cleaves the phosphodiester backbone at a specific site
measured from the guide strand's 5′ end. Here, we show that both strands of siRNA get
loaded onto Ago2 protein in Drosophila S2 cell extracts. The anti-guide strand behaves as a …
Summary
The mRNA-cleavage step of RNA interference is mediated by an endonuclease, Argonaute2 (Ago2), within the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). Ago2 uses one strand of the small interfering (si) RNA duplex as a guide to find messenger RNAs containing complementary sequences and cleaves the phosphodiester backbone at a specific site measured from the guide strand's 5′ end. Here, we show that both strands of siRNA get loaded onto Ago2 protein in Drosophila S2 cell extracts. The anti-guide strand behaves as a RISC substrate and is cleaved by Ago2. This cleavage event is important for the removal of the anti-guide strand from Ago2 protein and activation of RISC.
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