Abstract
The crystal structure of phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase from Thermus thermophilus, solved at 2.9 Å resolution, displays (αβ)2 subunit organization. Unexpectedly, both the catalytic α- and the non-catalytic β-subunits comprise the characteristic fold of the class II active-site domains. The αβ heterodimer contains most of the building blocks so far identified in the class II synthetases. The presence of an RNA-binding domain, similiar to that of the U1A spliceosomal protein, in the β-subunit is indicative of structural relationships among different families of RNA-binding proteins. The structure suggests a plausible catalytic mechanism which explains why the primary site of tRIMA aminoacylation is different from that of the other class II enzymes.
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Mosyak, L., Reshetnikova, L., Goldgur, Y. et al. Structure of phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase from Thermus thermophilus. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2, 537–547 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsb0795-537
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nsb0795-537
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