Ago2 protects Drosophila siRNAs and microRNAs from target-directed degradation, even in the absence of 2′- O -methylation

<jats:p>Target-directed microRNA (miRNA) degradation (TDMD), which is mediated by the protein ZSWIM8, plays a widespread role in shaping miRNA abundances across bilateria. Some endogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) of <jats:italic>Drosophila</jats:italic> cells have target sit...

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Main Authors: Kingston, Elena R, Bartel, David P
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 2022
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/146763
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author Kingston, Elena R
Bartel, David P
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology
Kingston, Elena R
Bartel, David P
author_sort Kingston, Elena R
collection MIT
description <jats:p>Target-directed microRNA (miRNA) degradation (TDMD), which is mediated by the protein ZSWIM8, plays a widespread role in shaping miRNA abundances across bilateria. Some endogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) of <jats:italic>Drosophila</jats:italic> cells have target sites resembling those that trigger TDMD, raising the question as to whether they too might undergo such regulation by Dora, the <jats:italic>Drosophila</jats:italic> ZSWIM8 homolog. Here, we find that some of these siRNAs are indeed sensitive to Dora when loaded into Ago1, the Argonaute paralog that preferentially associates with miRNAs. Despite this sensitivity when loaded into Ago1, these siRNAs are not detectably regulated by target-directed degradation because most molecules are loaded into Ago2, the Argonaute paralog that preferentially associates with siRNAs, and we find that siRNAs and miRNAs loaded into Ago2 are insensitive to Dora. One explanation for the protection of these small RNAs loaded into Ago2 is that these small RNAs are 2′-<jats:italic>O</jats:italic>-methylated at their 3′ termini. However, 2′-<jats:italic>O</jats:italic>-methylation does not protect these RNAs from Dora-mediated target-directed degradation, which indicates that their protection is instead conferred by features of the Ago2 protein itself. Together, these observations clarify the requirements for regulation by target-directed degradation and expand our understanding of the role of 2′-<jats:italic>O</jats:italic>-methylation in small-RNA biology.</jats:p>
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spelling mit-1721.1/1467632022-12-07T03:26:17Z Ago2 protects Drosophila siRNAs and microRNAs from target-directed degradation, even in the absence of 2′- O -methylation Kingston, Elena R Bartel, David P Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology <jats:p>Target-directed microRNA (miRNA) degradation (TDMD), which is mediated by the protein ZSWIM8, plays a widespread role in shaping miRNA abundances across bilateria. Some endogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) of <jats:italic>Drosophila</jats:italic> cells have target sites resembling those that trigger TDMD, raising the question as to whether they too might undergo such regulation by Dora, the <jats:italic>Drosophila</jats:italic> ZSWIM8 homolog. Here, we find that some of these siRNAs are indeed sensitive to Dora when loaded into Ago1, the Argonaute paralog that preferentially associates with miRNAs. Despite this sensitivity when loaded into Ago1, these siRNAs are not detectably regulated by target-directed degradation because most molecules are loaded into Ago2, the Argonaute paralog that preferentially associates with siRNAs, and we find that siRNAs and miRNAs loaded into Ago2 are insensitive to Dora. One explanation for the protection of these small RNAs loaded into Ago2 is that these small RNAs are 2′-<jats:italic>O</jats:italic>-methylated at their 3′ termini. However, 2′-<jats:italic>O</jats:italic>-methylation does not protect these RNAs from Dora-mediated target-directed degradation, which indicates that their protection is instead conferred by features of the Ago2 protein itself. Together, these observations clarify the requirements for regulation by target-directed degradation and expand our understanding of the role of 2′-<jats:italic>O</jats:italic>-methylation in small-RNA biology.</jats:p> 2022-12-06T16:51:24Z 2022-12-06T16:51:24Z 2021 2022-12-06T16:30:10Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/146763 Kingston, Elena R and Bartel, David P. 2021. "Ago2 protects Drosophila siRNAs and microRNAs from target-directed degradation, even in the absence of 2′- O -methylation." RNA, 27 (6). en 10.1261/RNA.078746.121 RNA Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
spellingShingle Kingston, Elena R
Bartel, David P
Ago2 protects Drosophila siRNAs and microRNAs from target-directed degradation, even in the absence of 2′- O -methylation
title Ago2 protects Drosophila siRNAs and microRNAs from target-directed degradation, even in the absence of 2′- O -methylation
title_full Ago2 protects Drosophila siRNAs and microRNAs from target-directed degradation, even in the absence of 2′- O -methylation
title_fullStr Ago2 protects Drosophila siRNAs and microRNAs from target-directed degradation, even in the absence of 2′- O -methylation
title_full_unstemmed Ago2 protects Drosophila siRNAs and microRNAs from target-directed degradation, even in the absence of 2′- O -methylation
title_short Ago2 protects Drosophila siRNAs and microRNAs from target-directed degradation, even in the absence of 2′- O -methylation
title_sort ago2 protects drosophila sirnas and micrornas from target directed degradation even in the absence of 2 o methylation
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/146763
work_keys_str_mv AT kingstonelenar ago2protectsdrosophilasirnasandmicrornasfromtargetdirecteddegradationevenintheabsenceof2omethylation
AT barteldavidp ago2protectsdrosophilasirnasandmicrornasfromtargetdirecteddegradationevenintheabsenceof2omethylation