Dataset Information

The synthesis of methylated, phosphorylated, and phosphonated 3'-aminoacyl-tRNA(Sec) mimics.

ABSTRACT: The twenty first amino acid, selenocysteine (Sec), is the only amino acid that is synthesized on its cognate transfer RNA (tRNA(Sec)) in all domains of life. The multistep pathway involves O-phosphoseryl-tRNA:selenocysteinyl-tRNA synthase (SepSecS), an enzyme that catalyzes the terminal chemical reaction during which the phosphoseryl-tRNA(Sec) intermediate is converted into selenocysteinyl-tRNA(Sec). The SepSecS architecture and the mode of tRNA(Sec) recognition have been recently determined at atomic resolution. The crystal structure provided valuable insights that gave rise to mechanistic proposals that could not be validated because of the lack of appropriate molecular probes. To further improve our understanding of the mechanism of the biosynthesis of selenocysteine in general and the mechanism of SepSecS in particular, stable tRNA(Sec) substrates carrying aminoacyl moieties that mimic particular reaction intermediates are needed. Here, we report on the accurate synthesis of methylated, phosphorylated, and phosphonated serinyl-derived tRNA(Sec) mimics that contain a hydrolysis-resistant ribose 3'-amide linkage instead of the natural ester bond. The procedures introduced allow for efficient site-specific methylation and/or phosphorylation directly on the solid support utilized in the automated RNA synthesis. For the preparation of (S)-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid-oligoribonucleotide conjugates, a separate solid support was generated. Furthermore, we developed a three-strand enzymatic ligation protocol to obtain the corresponding full-length tRNA(Sec) derivatives. Finally, we developed an electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) for rapid, qualitative characterization of the SepSecS-tRNA interactions. The novel tRNA(Sec) mimics are promising candidates for further elucidation of the biosynthesis of selenocysteine by X-ray crystallography and other biochemical approaches, and could be attractive for similar studies on other tRNA-dependent enzymes.

SUBMITTER: Rigger L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4010121 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The synthesis of methylated, phosphorylated, and phosphonated 3'-aminoacyl-tRNA(Sec) mimics.

Rigger Lukas L Schmidt Rachel L RL Holman Kaitlyn M KM Simonović Miljan M Micura Ronald R

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) 20131014 47

The twenty first amino acid, selenocysteine (Sec), is the only amino acid that is synthesized on its cognate transfer RNA (tRNA(Sec)) in all domains of life. The multistep pathway involves O-phosphoseryl-tRNA:selenocysteinyl-tRNA synthase (SepSecS), an enzyme that catalyzes the terminal chemical reaction during which the phosphoseryl-tRNA(Sec) intermediate is converted into selenocysteinyl-tRNA(Sec). The SepSecS architecture and the mode of tRNA(Sec) recognition have been recently determined at ...[more]

PMID: 24127424

Similar Datasets

Project description:Protein biosynthesis is a central process in all living cells that is catalyzed by a complex molecular machine─the ribosome. This process is termed translation because the language of nucleotides in mRNAs is translated into the language of amino acids in proteins. Transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules charged with amino acids serve as adaptors and recognize codons of mRNA in the decoding center while simultaneously the individual amino acids are assembled into a peptide chain in the peptidyl transferase center (PTC). As the nascent peptide emerges from the ribosome, it is threaded through a long tunnel referred to as a nascent peptide exit tunnel (NPET). The PTC and NPET are the sites targeted by many antibiotics and are thus of tremendous importance from a biomedical perspective and for drug development in the pharmaceutical industry.Researchers have achieved much progress in characterizing ribosomal translation at the molecular level; an impressive number of high-resolution structures of different functional and inhibited states of the ribosome are now available. These structures have significantly contributed to our understanding of how the ribosome interacts with its key substrates, namely, mRNA, tRNAs, and translation factors. In contrast, much less is known about the mechanisms of how small molecules, especially antibiotics, affect ribosomal protein synthesis. This mainly concerns the structural basis of small molecule-NPET interference with cotranslational protein folding and the regulation of protein synthesis. Growing biochemical evidence suggests that NPET plays an active role in the regulation of protein synthesis.Much-needed progress in this field is hampered by the fact that during the preparation of ribosome complexes for structural studies (i.e., X-ray crystallography, cryoelectron microscopy, and NMR spectroscopy) the aminoacyl- or peptidyl-tRNAs are unstable and become hydrolyzed. A solution to this problem is the application of hydrolysis-resistant mimics of aminoacyl- or peptidyl-tRNAs.In this Account, we present an overview of synthetic methods for the generation of peptidyl-tRNA analogs. Modular approaches have been developed that combine (i) RNA and peptide solid-phase synthesis on 3'-aminoacylamino-adenosine resins, (ii) native chemical ligations and Staudinger ligations, (iii) tailoring of tRNAs by the selective cleavage of natural native tRNAs with DNAzymes followed by reassembly with enzymatic ligation to synthetic peptidyl-RNA fragments, and (iv) enzymatic tailing and cysteine charging of the tRNA to obtain modified CCA termini of a tRNA that are chemically ligated to the peptide moiety of interest. With this arsenal of tools, in principle, any desired sequence of a stably linked peptidyl-tRNA mimic is accessible. To underline the significance of the synthetic conjugates, we briefly point to the most critical applications that have shed new light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the context-specific activity of ribosome-targeting antibiotics, ribosome-dependent incorporation of multiple consecutive proline residues, the incorporation of d-amino acids, and tRNA mischarging.Furthermore, we discuss new types of stably charged tRNA analogs, relying on triazole- and squarate (instead of amide)-linked conjugates. Those have pushed forward our mechanistic understanding of nonribosomal peptide synthesis, where aminoacyl-tRNA-dependent enzymes are critically involved in various cellular processes in primary and secondary metabolism and in bacterial cell wall synthesis.

Project description:BackgroundRecent studies point to a great diversity of non-ribosomal peptide synthesis systems with major roles in amino acid and co-factor biosynthesis, secondary metabolism, and post-translational modifications of proteins by peptide tags. The least studied of these systems are those utilizing tRNAs or aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AAtRS) in non-ribosomal peptide ligation.ResultsHere we describe novel examples of AAtRS related proteins that are likely to be involved in the synthesis of widely distributed peptide-derived metabolites. Using sensitive sequence profile methods we show that the cyclodipeptide synthases (CDPSs) are members of the HUP class of Rossmannoid domains and are likely to be highly derived versions of the class-I AAtRS catalytic domains. We also identify the first eukaryotic CDPSs in fungi and in animals; they might be involved in immune response in the latter organisms. We also identify a paralogous version of the methionyl-tRNA synthetase, which is widespread in bacteria, and present evidence using contextual information that it might function independently of protein synthesis as a peptide ligase in the formation of a peptide- derived secondary metabolite. This metabolite is likely to be heavily modified through multiple reactions catalyzed by a metal-binding cupin domain and a lysine N6 monooxygenase that are strictly associated with this paralogous methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MtRS). We further identify an analogous system wherein the MtRS has been replaced by more typical peptide ligases with the ATP-grasp or modular condensation-domains.ConclusionsThe prevalence of these predicted biosynthetic pathways in phylogenetically distant, pathogenic or symbiotic bacteria suggests that metabolites synthesized by them might participate in interactions with the host. More generally, these findings point to a complete spectrum of recruitment of AAtRS to various non-ribosomal biosynthetic pathways, ranging from the conventional AAtRS, through closely related paralogous AAtRS dedicated to certain pathways, to highly derived versions of the class-I AAtRS catalytic domain like the CDPSs. Both the conventional AAtRS and their closely related paralogs often provide aminoacylated tRNAs for peptide ligations by MprF/Fem/MurM-type acetyltransferase fold ligases in the synthesis of peptidoglycan, N-end rule modifications of proteins, lipid aminoacylation or biosynthesis of antibiotics, such as valinamycin. Alternatively they might supply aminoacylated tRNAs for other biosynthetic pathways like that for tetrapyrrole or directly function as peptide ligases as in the case of mycothiol and those identified here.

Dataset Information

The synthesis of methylated, phosphorylated, and phosphonated 3'-aminoacyl-tRNA(Sec) mimics.

Publications

The synthesis of methylated, phosphorylated, and phosphonated 3'-aminoacyl-tRNA(Sec) mimics.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets