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Structural biology

RNA switches function

Nature volume 441, pages 1054–1055 (2006)Cite this article

Proteins are not the only regulators of metabolite synthesis — some RNA molecules do it too. These RNAs lack chemical diversity, so how do we explain the variety of their respective substrates?

The traditional view of RNA as a passive messenger in the transfer of genetic information has long been abandoned. Yet every few years we are still surprised by the discovery of another function that RNA performs. Some bacterial messenger RNAs directly regulate the expression of proteins involved in the syn-thesis of certain metabolic products. This regulation responds to changing levels of the metabolites in the cell, a type of feedback mechanism that was previously known to be mediated only by proteins. These RNAs — known as riboswitches — elegantly couple metabolite recognition with gene regulation in the absence of protein helpers. In this issue, Serganov et al. (page 1167)1 and Montange and Batey (page 1172)2 describe the structures of two distinct classes of riboswitch, providing remarkable insight into RNA metabolite recognition and the control mechanism for gene expression.

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Figure 1: Gene regulation by riboswitches.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Biochemistry and Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195-1700, Washington, USA

    Steve Reichow & Gabriele Varani

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  1. Steve Reichow
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  2. Gabriele Varani
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Reichow, S., Varani, G. RNA switches function. Nature 441, 1054–1055 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/4411054a

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