A characteristic arrangement of aromatic amino acid residues in the solution structure of the amino-terminal RNA-binding domain of Drosophila sex-lethal

Abstract The Sex-lethal (Sxl) protein from Drosophila melanogaster has two RNA-binding domains (RBDs). As the amino-terminal RBD (RBD1) of the Sxl protein exhibits low sequence homology to the typical RBDs, particularly at the putative functional residues, it was difficult to unambiguously locate the RNP1 and RNP2 motifs. Therefore, in the present study, we defined the amino and carboxy-terminal borders of the first RNA-binding domain (RBD1) of the Sxl protein by limited tryptic digestion. By replacement of Phe166 by Tyr, we constructed a highly soluble mutant, which exhibits the same RNA-binding properties as those of the wild-type. Using this mutant protein, we performed NMR measurements, and elucidated the secondary and tertiary structures of the Sxl RBD1 in solution. The βαββαβ folding pattern is conserved in the solution structure of the Sxl RBD1, as in other reported RBD structures. This allowed us to identify both the RNP1 and RNP2 motifs of the Sxl RBD1 unambiguously. Intriguingly, the RNP2 motif of the Sxl RBD1 has an Ile residue at the second position, which is generally occupied by an aromatic amino acid residue in RBDs and has been suggested to be involved in their RNA binding. Furthermore, the loop region between β2 and β3 of the Sxl RBD1 has an exceptional cluster of aromatic amino acid residues, in place of the normal basic amino acid cluster. In contrast, the second RBD of Sxl does not exhibit these characteristic features.