Structure of the Eukaryotic Thiamine Pyrophosphate Riboswitch with Its Regulatory Ligand

• DOI: 10.1126/science.1128451
• Publication Date: 2006-05-05T01:01:16Z
• Authors: Stéphane Thore; Marc Leibundgut; Nenad Ban
• Keywords: Riboswitch; Thiamine pyrophosphate; Nucleic acid structure

Riboswitches are untranslated regions of messenger RNA, which adopt alternate structures depending on the binding specific metabolites. Such conformational switching regulates expression proteins involved in biosynthesis riboswitch substrates. Here, we present 2.9 angstrom–resolution crystal structure eukaryotic Arabidopsis thaliana thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP)–specific complex with its natural ligand. The specifically recognizes TPP via conserved residues located within two highly distorted parallel “sensor” helices. provides basis for understanding reorganization fold upon and explains mechanism resistance to antibiotic pyrithiamine.