Article abstract
Nature Chemical Biology 5, 947 - 953 (2009)
Published online: 25 October 2009 | doi:10.1038/nchembio.255
Natural amino acids do not require their native tRNAs for efficient selection by the ribosome
Philip R Effraim1,2, Jiangning Wang2, Michael T Englander1,2, Josh Avins2, Thomas S Leyh3, Ruben L Gonzalez Jr2 & Virginia W Cornish2
Abstract
The involvement of tRNA structural elements beyond the anticodon in aminoacyl-tRNA (aa-tRNA) selection by the ribosome has revealed that substrate recognition is considerably more complex than originally envisioned in the adaptor hypothesis. By combining recent breakthroughs in aa-tRNA synthesis and mechanistic and structural studies of protein synthesis, we have investigated whether aa-tRNA recognition further extends to the amino acid, which would explain various translation disorders exhibited by misacylated tRNAs. Contrary to expectation, we find that natural amino acids misacylated onto natural but non-native tRNAs are selected with efficiencies very similar to those of their correctly acylated counterparts. Despite this, small but reproducible differences in selection indeed demonstrate that the translational machinery is sensitive to the amino acid–tRNA pairing. These results suggest either that the ribosome is an exquisite sensor of natural versus unnatural amino acid–tRNA pairings and/or that aa-tRNA selection is not the primary step governing the amino acid specificity of the ribosome.
- Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.
Correspondence to: Thomas S Leyh3 e-mail: leyh@aecom.yu.edu
Correspondence to: Ruben L Gonzalez Jr2 e-mail: rlg2118@columbia.edu
Correspondence to: Virginia W Cornish2 e-mail: vc114@columbia.edu
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Hasty decisions on the ribosomeNature Structural & Molecular Biology News and Views (01 Mar 2004)
A tipping point for mistranslation and diseaseNature Structural & Molecular Biology News and Views (01 Apr 2009)
See all 6 matches for News And ViewsRESEARCH
tRNA selection and kinetic proofreading in translationNature Structural & Molecular Biology Article (01 Oct 2004)
Induced fit in initial selection and proofreading of aminoacyl-tRNA on the ribosomeThe EMBO Journal Article (01 Jul 1999)
See all 69 matches for Research
