Characterization of MazFSa, an endoribonuclease from Staphylococcus aureus.

ABSTRACT: The mazEF homologs of Staphylococcus aureus, designated mazEF(sa), have been shown to cotranscribe with the sigB operon under stress conditions. In this study, we showed that MazEF(Sa), as with their Escherichia coli counterparts, compose a toxin-antitoxin module wherein MazF(Sa) leads to rapid cell growth arrest and loss in viable CFU upon overexpression. MazF(Sa) is a novel sequence-specific endoribonuclease which cleaves mRNA to inhibit protein synthesis. Using ctpA mRNA as the model substrate both in vitro and in vivo, we demonstrated that MazF(Sa) cleaves single-strand RNA preferentially at the 5' side of the first U or 3' side of the second U residue within the consensus sequences VUUV' (where V and V' are A, C, or G and may or may not be identical). Binding studies confirmed that th

SUBMITTER: Fu Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2168618 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature