Nucleic acid-binding specificity of human FUS protein

摘要: FUS, a nuclear RNA-binding protein, plays multiple roles in RNA processing. Five specific FUS-binding sequence/structure motifs have been proposed, but their affinities for FUS not directly compared. Here we find that human binds all these sequences with Kd (app) values spanning 10-fold range. Furthermore, some RNAs do contain any of bind similar affinity. length-dependent manner, consistent substantial non-specific component to binding. Finally, investigation binding different nucleic acids shows it single-stranded DNA three-fold lower affinity than ssRNA the same length and sequence, while double-stranded is weaker. We conclude has quite general acid-binding activity, various proposed being neither necessary nor sufficient explain its diverse partners.