Histone RNA hairpin-binding protein or stem-loop binding protein (SLBP) is a

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

that in humans is encoded by the ''SLBP''

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

Species distribution

SLBP has been cloned from humans, ''

C. elegans ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' () is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a blend of the Greek ''caeno-'' (recent), ''rhabditis'' (r ...

'', ''

D. melanogaster ''Drosophila melanogaster'' is a species of fly (the taxonomic order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the " vinegar fly" or "pomace fly". Starting with ...

'', '' X. laevis'', and

sea urchins Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

. The full length human protein has 270 amino acids (31 kDa) with a centrally located RNA binding domain (RBD). The 75 amino acid RBD is well conserved across species, however the remainder of SLBP is highly divergent in most organisms and not homologous to any other protein in the eukaryotic genomes.

Function

This gene encodes a

that binds to the

histone 3' UTR stem-loop In biology, histones are highly basic proteins abundant in lysine and arginine residues that are found in eukaryotic cell nuclei. They act as spools around which DNA winds to create structural units called nucleosomes. Nucleosomes in turn ar ...

structure in replication-dependent

histone In biology, histones are highly basic proteins abundant in lysine and arginine residues that are found in eukaryotic cell nuclei. They act as spools around which DNA winds to create structural units called nucleosomes. Nucleosomes in turn a ...

mRNAs In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of synthesizing a protein. mRNA is created during the p ...

. Histone mRNAs do not contain

introns An intron is any nucleotide sequence within a gene that is not expressed or operative in the final RNA product. The word ''intron'' is derived from the term ''intragenic region'', i.e. a region inside a gene."The notion of the cistron .e., gene ...

or polyadenylation signals, and are processed by a single endonucleolytic cleavage event downstream of the stem-loop. The stem-loop structure is essential for efficient processing of the histone pre-mRNA but this structure also controls the transport,

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

and stability of histone mRNAs. SLBP

expression Expression may refer to: Linguistics * Expression (linguistics), a word, phrase, or sentence * Fixed expression, a form of words with a specific meaning * Idiom, a type of fixed expression * Metaphorical expression, a particular word, phrase, o ...

is regulated during S-phase of the

cell cycle The cell cycle, or cell-division cycle, is the series of events that take place in a cell that cause it to divide into two daughter cells. These events include the duplication of its DNA (DNA replication) and some of its organelles, and sub ...

, increasing more than 10-fold during the latter part of G1. All SLBP proteins are capable of forming a highly stable complex with histone stem-loop RNA. Complex formation with the histone mRNA stem-loop is achieved by a novel three-helix bundle fold. SLBP proteins also recognize the tetraloop structure of the histone hairpin, the base of the stem, and the 5' flanking region. The crystal structure of human SLBP in complex with the stem-loop RNA as well as the exonuclease Eri1 reveals that the Arg181 residue of SLBP specifically interacts with the second

guanine Guanine () ( symbol G or Gua) is one of the four main nucleobases found in the nucleic acids DNA and RNA, the others being adenine, cytosine, and thymine (uracil in RNA). In DNA, guanine is paired with cytosine. The guanine nucleoside is c ...

base in the RNA stem. The rest of the protein is intrinsically disordered in fruit-flies as well as in humans. A unique feature of the SLBP RBD is that it is

phosphorylated In chemistry, phosphorylation is the attachment of a phosphate group to a molecule or an ion. This process and its inverse, dephosphorylation, are common in biology and could be driven by natural selection. Text was copied from this source, wh ...

in its RNA binding domain at the Thr171 residue. The SLBP RBD also undergoes proline isomerization about this sequence and is a substrate for the prolyl isomerase Pin1. The N-terminal domain of human SLBP is required for translation activation of histone mRNAs via its interaction with SLIP1. SLBP also interacts with the CBP80 associated protein CTIF to facilitate rapid degradation of histone mRNAs. SLBP is a phosphoprotein and besides T171, it is also phosphorylated at Ser7, Ser20, Ser23, Thr60, Thr61 in mammalian cells. The phosphorylation at Thr60 is mediated by CK2 and Thr61 is by

Cyclin A Cyclin A is a member of the cyclin family, a group of proteins that function in regulating progression through the cell cycle. The stages that a cell passes through that culminate in its division and replication are collectively known as the ce ...

Cdk1 Cyclin-dependent kinase 1 also known as CDK1 or cell division cycle protein 2 homolog is a highly conserved protein that functions as a serine/threonine protein kinase, and is a key player in cell cycle regulation. It has been highly studied in t ...

Species distribution

Function

References

Further reading