NAR Breakthrough: Principles of ion binding to RNA inferred from the analysis of a 1.55 ? resolution bacterial ribosome structure – Part I: Mg2+
NAR Nucleic Acids Research
Published by Oxford University Press - Impact Factor 16.7
by Filip Leonarski, Anja Henning-Knechtel, Serdal Kirmizialtin, Eric Ennifar and Pascal Auffinger
Magnesium ions (Mg2+) are crucial for the structure and function of RNA. Researchers have tried to classify how Mg2+?binds to RNA, but this has been difficult due to poorly modeled ion binding sites. A recent study on an E. coli ribosome structure revealed incomplete ion assignments, making it hard to understand their binding patterns. By revisiting this model, the authors established general principles for Mg2+?binding that can be applied to any RNA with sufficient resolution. These principles are based on the distance between two water molecules bound to Mg2+. Using these rules, they identified all Mg2+?ions bound with 2–4 non-water oxygen atoms. They also discovered new binding motifs where up to five nucleotides wrap around a single ion. This process involves a step-by-step dehydration of Mg2+?ions, which is important for ribosome formation and RNA folding. Additionally, they classified pairs of Mg2+?and potassium (K+) ions found in the ribosome. These findings improve our understanding of ion roles in RNA structure and will help refine the solvation shell of other RNA systems.