Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

RNA

Hijacking host ribosomes via tRNA mimicry

Nature Cell Biology volume 25, pages 1562–1563 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

The bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila uses effectors — toxins — to facilitate pathogenesis within host cells. A recent study identifies dual mechanisms of the effector SidI as an inhibitor of translation elongation. The N-terminal domain mimics tRNA, whereas the C-terminal domain glycosylates the ribosome.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: The Legionella toxin SidI induces ribosome collision via targeted glycosylation.

References

  1. Walsh, D. & Mohr, I. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 9, 860–875 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Van Ness, B. G., Howard, J. B. & Bodley, J. W. J. Biol. Chem. 255, 10710–10716 (1980).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Hubber, A. & Roy, C. R. Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 26, 261–283 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Belyi, Y. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 103, 16953–16958 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Shen, X. et al. Cell Microbiol. 11, 911–926 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Subramanian, A. et al. Nat. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-023-01248-z (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Joseph, A. M. et al. Infect. Immun. 88, e00853–19 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Simsek, D. & Barna, M. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 45, 92–101 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Ku, H. C. & Cheng, C. F. Front. Endocrinol. 11, 556 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Wu, C. C., Peterson, A., Zinshteyn, B., Regot, S. & Green, R. Cell 182, 404–416.e414 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Schuller, A. P. & Green, R. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 19, 526–541 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Liu, B. & Qian, S. B. Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. RNA 5, 301–315 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Hinnebusch, A. G., Ivanov, I. P. & Sonenberg, N. Science 352, 1413–1416 (2016).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Kaufmann, G. Trends Biochem. Sci. 25, 70–74 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Zhang, F. et al. Sci. Adv. 9, eadh8502 (2023).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Saori Uematsu & Shu-Bing Qian

Authors
  1. Saori Uematsu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shu-Bing Qian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shu-Bing Qian.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Uematsu, S., Qian, SB. Hijacking host ribosomes via tRNA mimicry. Nat Cell Biol 25, 1562–1563 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-023-01249-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-023-01249-y

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing