Description
β-Pseudouridine is the C-5 glycoside isomer of the nucleoside uridine. It is formed when uridine in RNA undergoes site-specific isomerization by a pseudouridine synthase enzyme. Pseudouridine is found in tRNAs from bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. In vitro, it reduces the number of X-ray-induced chromosomal aberrations in human lymphocytes isolated from whole blood in a dose-dependent manner.
Uses
An isomer of the nucleoside uridine found in all species and in many classes of RNA except mRNA. It is formed by enzymes called Ψ synthases, which post-transcriptionally isomerize specific uridine residues in RNA in a process termed pseudouridylation. Studies suggest that β-Pseudouridine reduces radiation-induced chromosome aberrations in human lymphocytes.
Definition
ChEBI: Pseudouridine is a C-glycosyl pyrimidine that consists of uracil having a beta-D-ribofuranosyl residue attached at position 5. The C-glycosyl isomer of the nucleoside uridine. It has a role as a fundamental metabolite.
Origin
Pseudouridine (Ψ) was the first modified ribonucleotide discovered 7 decades ago, and it has been found in tRNA, rRNA, snRNA, mRNA, and other types of RNA[2].
Biochem/physiol Actions
Pseudouridine is essential for rRNA folding and for regulating translational accuracy and it is required for stabilizing the tRNA structure. Pseudouridine in rRNA and tRNA has been shown to fine-tune and stabilize the regional structure and help maintain their functions in mRNA decoding, ribosome assembly, processing and translation. Pseudouridine in snRNA has been shown to enhance spliceosomal RNA-pre-mRNA interaction to facilitate splicing regulation[1].
target
Human Endogenous Metabolite
Structure and conformation
Pseudouridine, being one of them, is the C5-glycoside isomer of uridine that contains a C-C bond between C1 of the ribose sugar and C5 of uracil, rather than usual C1-N1 bond found in uridine. The C-C bond gives it more rotational freedom and conformational flexibility.In addition, pseudouridine has an extra hydrogen bond donor at the N1 position.
References
[1] Mingjia Chen, Claus-Peter Witte. “A Kinase and a Glycosylase Catabolize Pseudouridine in the Peroxisome to Prevent Toxic Pseudouridine Monophosphate Accumulation.” Plant Cell 32 3 (2020): 722–739.
[2] Pedro Morais, Yi-Tao Yu, Hironori Adachi. “The Critical Contribution of Pseudouridine to mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines.” Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (2021): 789427.
