biostudies-literatureUnknown2022Helwer RRNA helicases are involved in nearly all aspects of RNA metabolism and factor prominently in ribosome assembly. The SSU processome includes 10 helicases and many helicase-cofactors. Together, they mediate the structural rearrangements that occur as part of ribosomal SSU assembly. During the identification of the SSU processome component Utp25/Def, it was noticed that the protein displays some sequence similarity to DEAD-box RNA helicases and is essential for growth. Interestingly, mutational ablation showed that Utp25's DEAD-box motifs are dispensable. Here, we show that the Utp25 AlphaFold prediction displays considerable structural similarity to DEAD-box helicases and is the first fully validated pseudohelicase.microPublication biologyhttps://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9539457biostudies-literatureThe SSU Processome Component Utp25p is a Pseudohelicase.PMC9539457Charette JMHelwer RfalseThe SSU Processome Component Utp25p is a Pseudohelicase.RNA helicases are involved in nearly all aspects of RNA metabolism and factor prominently in ribosome assembly. The SSU processome includes 10 helicases and many helicase-cofactors. Together, they mediate the structural rearrangements that occur as part of ribosomal SSU assembly. During the identification of the SSU processome component Utp25/Def, it was noticed that the protein displays some sequence similarity to DEAD-box RNA helicases and is essential for growth. Interestingly, mutational ablation showed that Utp25's DEAD-box motifs are dispensable. Here, we show that the Utp25 AlphaFold prediction displays considerable structural similarity to DEAD-box helicases and is the first fully validated pseudohelicase.2022-01-01T00:00:00Z20222025-05-29T16:10:29.803Z2025-04-05T12:17:27.399ZS-EPMC95394573621251810.17912/micropub.biology.000606