Polynucleotide Phosphorylase (PNPase) is a bifunctional enzyme with a phosphorolytic 3' to 5' exoribonuclease activity and a 3'-terminal oligonucleotidepolymerase activity.[2] That is, it dismantles the RNA chain starting at the 3' end and working toward the 5' end.[1] It also synthesizes long, highly heteropolymeric tails in vivo. It accounts for all of the observed residual polyadenylation in strains of Escherichia coli missing the normal polyadenylation enzyme.[1] Discovered by Marianne Grunberg-Manago working in Severo Ochoa's lab in 1955, the RNA-polymerization activity of PNPase was initially believed to be responsible for DNA-dependent synthesis of messenger RNA, a notion that was disproven by the late 1950s.[3][4]
It is involved in mRNA processing and degradation in bacteria, plants,[5] and animals.[6]
In humans, the enzyme is encoded by the PNPT1 gene. In its active form, the protein forms a ring structure consisting of three PNPase molecules. Each PNPase molecule consists of two RNase PH domains, an S1 RNA binding domain and a K-homology domain. The protein is present in bacteria and in the chloroplasts[2] and mitochondria[7] of some eukaryotic cells. In eukaryotes and archaea, a structurally and evolutionary related complex exists, called the exosome complex.[7]
^Grunberg-Manago M, Ortiz PJ, Ochoa S (April 1956). "Enzymic synthesis of polynucleotides. I. Polynucleotide phosphorylase of azotobacter vinelandii". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. 20 (1): 269–85. doi:10.1016/0006-3002(56)90286-4. PMID13315374.
^ abSchilders G, van Dijk E, Raijmakers R, Pruijn GJ (2006). Cell and molecular biology of the exosome: how to make or break an RNA. International Review of Cytology. Vol. 251. pp. 159–208. doi:10.1016/S0074-7696(06)51005-8. ISBN9780123646552. PMID16939780.
