Detection of the Common RNA Nucleoside Pseudouridine in Mixtures of Oligonucleotides by Mass Spectrometry
- 22 June 2005
- journal article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in Analytical Chemistry
- Vol. 77 (15), 4687-4697
- https://doi.org/10.1021/ac058023p
Abstract
Pseudouridine, an isomer of uridine, is probably the most common of many posttranscriptional RNA modifications found in nature. Although mass spectrometry has become widely used in the characterization of modified nucleic acids, its application to the recognition and sequence placement of pseudouridine has not been straightforward, particularly in the case of complex mixtures such as those resulting from selective enzymatic hydrolysis of RNA into oligonucleotides. We report results of a study of the characteristic dissociation reactions of pseudouridine-containing oligonucleotides following ionization by electrospray and use of those pathways in an LC/MS-based method applicable to direct analysis of RNase digests of RNA. As a consequence of the C−C (rather than C−N) glycosidic bond of pseudouridine, the otherwise common dissociation paths involving base loss do not occur, resulting in characteristic formation of a set of low-mass negative ions containing the intact glycosidic bond (m/z 225, 207, 189, 165, 164, 139), which permit recognition of pseudouridine-containing oligonucleotides. Those components can subsequently be subjected to sequence analysis by MS/MS, in which enhancement of selective sequence-determining ions (a-, w-, y-types), and absence of a − base ions, are observed at the site of pseudouridylation. Also, selected reaction pathways can be monitored in the LC/MS/MS analysis that are indicative of pseudouridine at the 5‘ terminus (m/z 225 → 165), internal positions (m/z 207 → 164), and in the RNase T1-derived product ΨpGp (m/z 668 → 207) arising from the RNA sequence ...GΨG... These procedures can be effectively integrated into an existing suite of LC/ESI-MS-based methods designed for the analysis of posttranscriptionally modified sites in RNA.Keywords
This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- Number, position, and significance of the pseudouridines in the large subunit ribosomal RNA of Haloarcula marismortui and Deinococcus radioduransRNA, 2005
- Mapping Pseudouridines in RNA MoleculesMethods, 2001
- Pseudouridine in RNA: What, Where, How, and WhyIUBMB Life, 2000
- Implications of a functional large ribosomal RNA with only three modified nucleotidesBiochimie, 1995
- Rapid Sequencing of Oligonucleotides by High-Resolution Mass SpectrometryJournal of the American Chemical Society, 1994
- Decompositions of multiply charged oligonucleotide anionsJournal of the American Chemical Society, 1993
- Four newly located pseudouridylate residues in Escherichia coli 23S ribosomal RNA are all at the peptidyltransferase center: Analysis by the application of a new sequencing techniqueBiochemistry, 1993
- Proton-nitrogen-15 NMR studies of Escherichia coli tRNAPhe from HisT mutants: a structural role for pseudouridineBiochemistry, 1991
- TRANSFER RNA MODIFICATIONAnnual Review of Biochemistry, 1987
- Kinetic isotope effect in the homolytic abstraction of benzylic hydrogen by tert-butoxy radicalJournal of the American Chemical Society, 1975