Bioinformatic and Experimental Characterization of the RBM15 RNA Binding Protein

Abstract

The RNA binding motif 15 protein (RBM15) plays a critical role in post-transcriptional regulation. Its role in facilitating N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification, specifically through guiding the writer complex (WTAP METTL13 METTL14) to DRACH sequence motifs, has been demonstrated for several classes of RNA, including long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). The structural mechanism that underlies how RBM15 interacts with RNA has yet to be elucidated. In this study, we mined and bioinformatically assessed publicly available genome-wide RNA 2D structural probing and RBP cross-linking and immunoprecipitation data to investigate how RBM15 interacts with RNA, with a focus on lncRNA transcripts. RBM15, which possesses three RNA recognition motifs (RRMs), primarily interacts with stem-loop structured RNA motifs. Structural modeling reveals RRMs 2 and 3 are coaxially stacked in solution; these two RRMs are responsible for driving RBM15s interaction with RNA. We further demonstrate this experimentally with two RNA hairpins, revealing low micromolar binding affinities. Altogether, this work provides insight into the structural mechanism by which RBM15 interacts with RNAs to govern biological function.