Molecular Phylogenetics and Functional Evolution of Major RNA Recognition Domains of Recently Cloned and Characterized Autoimmune RNA-Binding Particle

Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) are spliceosomal macromolecular assemblages and thus actively participate in pre-mRNA metabolism. They are composed of evolutionarily conserved and tandemly repeated motifs, where both RNA-binding and protein-protein recognition occur to achieve cellular activities. By yet unknown mechanisms, these ribonucleoprotein (RNP) particles are targeted by autoantibodies and hence play significant role in a variety of human systemic autoimmune diseases. This feature makes them important prognostic markers in terms of molecular epidemiology and pathogenesis of autoimmunity. Since RNP domain is one of the most conserved and widespread scaffolds, evolutionary analyses of these RNA-binding domains can provide further clues on disease-specific epitope formation. The study presented herein represents a sequence comparison of RNA-recognition regions of recently cloned and characterized human hnRNP A3 with those of other relevant hnRNP A/B-type proteins. Their implications in human autoimmunity are particularly emphasized.