| Background | Pseudouridine ( Psi ) was among the first post-transcriptional modifications discovered and is overall one of the most abundant ( 1 ). It is present in a wide range of cellular RNAs and is highly conserved across species. Psi is derived from uridine (U) via base-specific isomerization catalyzed by Psi synthases. The site-specific pseudouridylation goes through either snoRNA-dependent (requires H/ACA RNP) or-independent mechanism (requires pseudouridine synthase (PUS) family enzymes) ( 2 ). It has an extra hydrogen-bond donor at its non-Watson-Crick edge. When incorporated into RNA, Psi can alter RNA secondary structure by increasing base stacking, improving base pairing and rigidifying sugar-phosphate backbone5. The chemical and physical properties of RNA can be altered with the incorporation of Psi, which could contribute to subsequent cellular functions. |
Information sourced from Uniprot.org
