Fig. 1

Architecture of human ribonuclease Dicer (hDicer) and its helicase domain. a Schematic showing the domain organization of hDicer based on [15]. b Schematic of the tertiary structure of hDicer with a miRNA precursor (pre-miRNA) based on [10] and [9]. c The tertiary structure of the hDicer helicase domain (PDB entry 5ZAL) visualized using PyMOL. Three subdomains: HEL1, HEL2i and HEL2 are distinguished, and the DExD/H-box including a Walker B motif and Walker A motif are indicated. d The distribution of charges on the surface of the helicase domain (PDB entry 5ZAL) visualized using PyMOL