Cloning, expression, purification and preliminary crystallographic studies of the adenylate/uridylate-rich element-binding protein HuR complexed with its target RNA

Adenylate/uridylate-rich elements (AREs), which are found in the 3'-untrans­lated region (UTR) of many mRNAs, influence the stability of cytoplasmic mRNA. HuR (human antigen R) binds to AREs and regulates various genes. In order to reveal the RNA-recognition mechanism of HuR protein, an RNA-binding region of human HuR containing two N-terminal RNA-recognition motif domains bound to an 11-­base RNA fragment has been crystallized. The crystals belonged to space group P2₁2₁2₁, with unit-cell parameters a = 42.4, b = 44.9, c = 91.1 Å. X-­ray diffraction data were collected to 1.8 Å resolution.