DHX36 resolves G-rich structures in mRNA untranslated region to allow their translation [PAR-CLIP-seq]

DHX36 is a ATP-dependent, 3´-5´ RNA helicase of the DEAH family. Previous publications reported this helicase to associate with AU-rich elements and to specifically unwind G-quadruplex structures. Here, we performed PAR-CLIP in duplicates to specifically crosslink DHX36 and helicase-dead DHX36 E335A to its RNA binding targets in HEK293 cells. After sequencing and mapping to the human genome at nucleotide-resolution level we combined sequencing reads to a total of over 60000 binding clusters on more than 9000 transcripts. Distribution analyses revealed that DHX36 binds mainly to CDSs and 3´UTRS of mRNAs. Also, a G-rich binding motif for DHX36 was identified. Examination of DHX36 and the helicase-dead mutant DHX36 E335A in duplicates to identify binding targets in HEK293 cells