Novel insights into guide RNA 5ʹ-Nucleoside/Tide binding by human argonaute 2

The human Argonaute 2 (hAgo2) protein is a key player of RNA interference (RNAi). Upon complex formation with small non-coding RNAs, the protein initially interacts with the 5'-end of a given guide RNA through multiple interactions within the MID domain. This interaction has been reported to show a strong bias for U and A over C and G at the 5'-position. Performing molecular dynamics simulations of binary hAgo2/OH–guide–RNA complexes, we show that hAgo2 is a highly flexible protein capable of binding to guide strands with all four possible 5'-bases. Especially, in the case of C and G this is associated with rather large individual conformational rearrangements affecting the MID, PAZ and even the N-terminal domains to different degrees. Moreover, a 5'-G induces domain motions in the protein, which trigger a previously unreported interaction between the 5'-base and the L2 linker domain. Combining our in silico analyses with biochemical studies of recombinant hAgo2, we find that, contrary to previous observations, hAgo2 is capable of functionally accommodating guide strands regardless of the 5'-base.