Zaja, R. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2026

Human PARPs modify RNA nucleobases in vitro and in cells

ADP-ribosylation is known as a protein modification, yet recent studies have expanded the range of ADP-ribosyltransferase (ART) substrates to include nucleic acids. tRNA 2'-phosphotransferase 1 (TRPT1) and several PARP family members can modify the 5'-phosphate of single-stranded RNA. Here, we show that PARP10 and PARP15 extend this activity beyond the 5'-phosphate terminus and generate N3-ADP-ribosyl uracil and N1-ADP-ribosyl guanine bases. The base-linked ADP-ribosylation is reversed selectively by the macrodomain-containing hydrolase TARG1. In TARG1 knockout cells, N1-ADP-ribosyl guanine can be detected. Together, these findings establish guanine and uracil ADP-ribose as two novel nucleotide modifications and reveal PARP15 and TARG1 as an enzyme pair which can dynamically regulate guanine ADP-ribosylation in living cells.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2022

Systematic analysis of ADP-ribose detection reagents and optimisation of sample preparation to detect ADP-ribosylation in vitro and in cells

Recent evidence suggests that modification of substrates with a single ADP-ribose (ADPr) is important in for example antiviral immunity and cancer. However, the endogenous substrates and the extent of mono-ADP-ribosylation are still largely unclear. Several reagents were developed to detect ADP-ribosylation but it is unknown whether they recognise only ADPr, amino acid-ADPr linkages or a combination of ADPr with a protein backbone. We screened the affinity of selected reagents for enzymatically, chemically and in cell generated ADP-ribosylation on glutamate, cysteine, serine, arginine, threonine and RNA by blotting, as well as analysed the subcellular sites of ADP-ribosylation using immunofluorescence confocal microscopy. We furthermore observed that the modification is heat-labile and optimised sample preparation procedures. Our comparison of the available reagents, as well as optimisation of sample preparation, will allow future work further dissecting the function of ADP-ribosylation in cells, both on protein and on RNA substrates.

molecular biology↗