Structure of an active human histone pre-mRNA 3′-end processing machinery

Architecture of an mRNA processor The 3′-end processing of the three major classes of RNA polymerase II transcripts in metazoan cells—polyadenylated messenger RNAs (mRNAs), histone mRNAs, and small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs)—requires three distinct machineries that share common features. Sun et al. reconstituted the active human histone pre-mRNA 3′-end processing machinery and solved its structure at near-atomic resolution by cryo–electron microscopy. This structure provides a basis for understanding the mechanism of the shared catalytic reactions between histone pre-mRNA and canonical pre-mRNA and snRNA 3′-end processing machineries. Science , this issue p. 700