SLIRP Interacts with Helicases to Facilitate 2'-O-Methylation of rRNA and to Promote Translation.

SRA stem-loop-interacting RNA-binding protein (SLIRP) is a versatile protein that can interact with the stem-loop structure in RNA and with G quadruplex DNA. By using a quantitative proteomic experiment, we found that SLIRP interacts with the majority of the human helicase proteome. We also found that these interactions facilitate 2'-O-methylation of a number of nucleosides in rRNA and promote protein translation. Hence, we uncovered a novel function of SLIRP protein and offered novel mechanistic insights into its function as a RNA chaperone and into the regulation of 2'-O-methylation of rRNA.