Amino acid substituents as a response to amino acid restriction

ABSTRACT: Correct charging of tRNAs with their corresponding amino acid is crucial for accurate translation of the genetic code into proteins. However, a growing body of evidence shows that unicellular organisms (bacteria and yeast) can sacrifice translational fidelity to preserve protein synthesis under deprivation of specific essential amino acids.1 Several weeks ago, Pataskar and colleagues described the first instance of codon reassignments caused by amino acid restriction in mammalian cells. Specifically, when human cancer cells were deprived of tryptophan (W), tRNATrp was misacylated with the structurally similar amino acid phenylalanine (F) by tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase (WARS1), resulting in W>F substitutions in synthesized proteins.2 The authors show that W>F substitutions do preserve translation, but generally result in dysfunctional proteins and that presentation of W>F peptides stimulates T cell-mediated killing. Together this would impair survival of cancer cells that incorporate W>F substitutions in their proteome.2 In the context of growing interest in amino acid depletion diets and related disorders,2 we wondered whether amino acid substitutions are restricted to pathological states like cancer or may represent a more generalized mechanism to maintain translation despite unfavorable circumstances. It is known that ARSs can misactivate tRNAs with structurally similar amino acids3, but editing activity ensures extreme specificity under physiological conditions.4,5 Given the structural similarities between isoleucine and valine, we speculated that isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase (IARS1) would misacylate tRNAIle with valine under isoleucine restriction, leading to I>V substitutions in the proteome. Not only did these substitutions occur in healthy primary human cells, but they also preserved translation and promoted cell viability upon nutritional stress.

INSTRUMENT(S): Orbitrap Fusion

ORGANISM(S): Homo Sapiens (human)

TISSUE(S): Fibroblast

SUBMITTER: Harmjan Vos  

LAB HEAD: Sabine A Fuchs

PROVIDER: PXD033426 | Pride | 2024-11-26

REPOSITORIES: Pride