Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:6.1.1.12 (aspartyl-tRNA synthetase)
 233 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Essential lysine residues were sought in the catalytic site of baker's yeast aspartyl-tRNA synthetase (an alpha 2 dimer of Mr 125,000) using affinity labeling methods and periodate-oxidized adenosine, ATP, and tRNA(Asp). It is shown that the number of periodate-oxidized derivatives which can be bound to the synthetase via Schiff's base formation with epsilon-NH2 groups of lysine residues exceeds the stoichiometry of specific substrate binding. Furthermore, it is found that the enzymatic activities are not completely abolished, even for high incorporation levels of the modified substrates. The tRNA(Asp) aminoacylation reaction is more sensitive to labeling than is the ATP-PPi exchange one; for enzyme preparations modified with oxidized adenosine or ATP this activity remains unaltered. These results demonstrate the absence of a specific lysine residue directly involved in the catalytic activities of yeast aspartyl-tRNA synthetase. Comparative labeling experiments with oxidized ATP were run with several other aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Residual ATP-PPi exchange and tRNA aminoacylation activities measured in each case on the modified synthetases reveal different behaviors of these enzymes when compared to that of aspartyl-tRNA synthetase. When tested under identical experimental conditions, pure isoleucyl-, methionyl-, threonyl- and valyl-tRNA synthetases from E. coli can be completely inactivated for their catalytic activities; for E. coli alanyl-tRNA synthetase only the tRNA charging activity is affected, whereas yeast valyl-tRNA synthetase is only partly inactivated. The structural significance of these experiments and the occurrence of essential lysine residues in aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are discussed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Non-essential role of lysine residues for the catalytic activities of aspartyl-tRNA synthetase and comparison with other aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. 313 44

The class-defining active site domain of the 10 class II tRNA synthetases is well conserved and, based on the crystal structure of aspartyl-tRNA synthetase, approaches the end of the tRNA acceptor stem from the major groove side of the helix. Paradoxically, for the class II alanyl-tRNA synthetase (AlaRS), aminoacylation is dependent on minor groove recognition of an acceptor helix G3.U70 base pair. Additional contributions to aminoacylation efficiency are made by the A73 "discriminator" base and G2.C71 base pair located at the end of the acceptor stem. Using microhelix substrates containing only the first four base pairs of the alanine tRNA acceptor helix, we demonstrated that the catalytic center of AlaRS with the three class-defining sequence motifs contains determinants for recognition of A73 and G2.C71. However, this structural unit does not discriminate between different base pairs at the critical 3.70 position. Discrimination at G3.U70 was mapped to a 76 amino acid polypeptide outside the catalytic center. We propose that the G3.U70 recognition motif is a structural appendage that folds back to the catalytic center to make contact with the bound acceptor stem. A "fold-back" appendage provides a specific mechanism for minor groove recognition of the acceptor helix by a class II tRNA synthetase.
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PMID:Minor groove recognition of the critical acceptor helix base pair by an appended module of a class II tRNA synthetase. 774 3

The recombinations and mutations that plant mitochondrial DNA has undergone during evolution have led to the inactivation or complete loss of a number of the 'native' transfer RNA genes deriving from the genome of the ancestral endosymbiont. Following sequence divergence in their genes, some native mitochondrial tRNAs are 'rescued' by editing, a post-transcriptional process which changes the RNA primary sequence. According to in vitro studies with the native mitochondrial tRNA(Phe) from potato and tRNA(His) from larch, editing is required for efficient processing. Some of the native tRNA genes which have been inactivated or lost have been replaced by tRNA genes present in plastid DNA sequences acquired by the mitochondrial genome during evolution, which raises the problem of the transcriptional regulation of tRNA genes in plant mitochondria. Finally, tRNAs for which no gene is present in the mitochondrial genome are imported from the cytosol. This process is highly specific for certain tRNAs, and it has been suggested that the cognate aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases may be responsible for this specificity. Indeed, a mutation which blocks recognition of the cytosolic Arabidopsis thaliana tRNA(Ala) by the corresponding alanyl-tRNA synthetase also prevents mitochondrial import of this tRNA in transgenic plants. Conversely, no significant mitochondrial co-import of the normally cytosol-specific tRNA(Asp) was detected in transgenic plants expressing the yeast cytosolic aspartyl-tRNA synthetase fused to a mitochondrial targeting sequence, suggesting that, although necessary, recognition by a cognate aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase might not be sufficient to allow tRNA import into plant mitochondria.
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PMID:Editing and import: strategies for providing plant mitochondria with a complete set of functional transfer RNAs. 891 41