Although the elongating ribosome is an efficient helicase, certain mRNA stem-loop structures are known to impede ribosome movement along mRNA and stimulate programmed ribosome frameshifting via mechanisms that are not well understood. Using biochemical and single-molecule Forster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) experiments, we studied how frameshift-inducing stem-loops from E. coli dnaX mRNA and the gag-pol transcript of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) perturb translation elongation. We find that upon encountering the ribosome, the stem-loops strongly inhibit A-site tRNA binding and ribosome intersubunit rotation that accompanies translation elongation. Electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) reveals that the HIV stem-loop docks into the A site of the ribosome. Our results suggest that mRNA stem-loops can transiently escape the ribosome helicase by binding to the A site. Thus, the stem-loops can modulate gene expression by sterically hindering tRNA binding and inhibiting translation elongation.

Although the elongating ribosome is an efficient helicase, certain mRNA stem-loop structures are known to impede ribosome movement along mRNA and stimulate programmed ribosome frameshifting via mechanisms that are not well understood. Using biochemical and single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) experiments, we studied how frameshift-inducing stem-loops from E. coli dnaX mRNA and the gag-pol transcript of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) perturb translation elongation. We find that upon encountering the ribosome, the stem-loops strongly inhibit A-site tRNA binding and ribosome intersubunit rotation that accompanies translation elongation. Electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) reveals that the HIV stem-loop docks into the A site of the ribosome. Our results suggest that mRNA stem-loops can transiently escape ribosome helicase by binding to the A site. Thus, the stem-loops can modulate gene expression by sterically hindering tRNA binding and inhibiting translation elongation.

U2AF Homology Motifs (UHMs) mediate protein-protein interactions with U2AF Ligand Motifs (ULMs) of pre-mRNA splicing factors. The UHM-containing alternative splicing factor CAPERalpha regulates splicing of tumor-promoting VEGF isoforms, yet the molecular target of the CAPERalpha UHM is unknown. Here, we present structures of the CAPERalpha UHM bound to a representative SF3b155 ULM at 1.7 A resolution, and for comparison, in the absence of ligand at 2.2 A resolution. The prototypical UHM/ULM interactions authenticate CAPERalpha as a bona fide member of the UHM-family of proteins. We identify SF3b155 as the relevant ULM-containing partner of full-length CAPERalpha in human cell extracts. Isothermal titration calorimetry comparisons of the purified CAPERalpha UHM binding known ULM-containing proteins demonstrate that high affinity interactions depend on the presence of an intact, intrinsically-unstructured SF3b155 domain containing seven ULM-like motifs. The interplay among bound CAPERalpha molecules gives rise to the appearance of two high affinity sites in the SF3b155 ULM-containing domain. In conjunction with the previously-identified, UHM/ULM-mediated complexes of U2AF65 and SPF45 with SF3b155, this work demonstrates the capacity of SF3b155 to offer a platform for coordinated recruitment of UHM-containing splicing factors.