Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2030678 | Trends in Biochemical Sciences | 2013 | 9 Pages |
Despite the fact that different classes of small RNAs are generated by largely different biogenesis pathways, all mature small RNAs associate with an Argonaute family member to form the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). Gene silencing by RISC could not be studied in molecular detail because structural information on eukaryotic Argonautes was lacking. Recently, however, the structure of human Argonaute-2 (hAgo2), a model for RISC function, was determined in complexes with heterogeneous guide RNA and in complexes with a specific miRNA. We review the exciting advances that these two structures, together with the structure of a budding yeast Argonaute, brought to the field of eukaryotic RNA interference (RNAi), and how they will enable a more detailed mechanistic understanding of eukaryotic RISC.