tRNA-dependent Pre-transfer Editing by Prokaryotic Leucyl-tRNA Synthetase

To prevent genetic code ambiguity due to misincorporation of amino acids into proteins, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases have evolved editing activities to eliminate intermediate or final non-cognate products. In this work we studied the different editing pathways of class Ia leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LeuRS). Different mutations and experimental conditions were used to decipher the editing mechanism, including the recently developed compound AN2690 that targets the post-transfer editing site of LeuRS. The study emphasizes the crucial importance of tRNA for the pre- and post-transfer editing catalysis. Both reactions have comparable efficiencies in prokaryotic Aquifex aeolicus and Escherichia coli LeuRSs, although the E. coli enzyme favors post-transfer editing, whereas the A. aeolicus enzyme favors pre-transfer editing. Our results also indicate that the entry of the CCA-acceptor end of tRNA in the editing domain is strictly required for tRNA-dependent pre-transfer editing. Surprisingly, this editing reaction was resistant to AN2690, which inactivates the enzyme by forming a covalent adduct with tRNA^Leu in the post-transfer editing site. Taken together, these data suggest that the binding of tRNA in the post-transfer editing conformation confers to the enzyme the capacity for pre-transfer editing catalysis, regardless of its capacity to catalyze post-transfer editing.     

以布氏锥虫亮氨酰tRNA合成酶为靶标的抗锥虫药物筛选系统的建立

锥虫是人的血液寄生虫,对热带乃至拉丁美洲贫困地区影响极大,但目前的传统治疗药物存在副作用大、有效性不断降低的问题。根据亮氨酰tRNA合成酶在微生物中可作为药物靶点的事实,在新型抗锥虫药物筛选中,通过对锥虫的亮氨酰tRNA合成酶的克隆、表达和纯化,以及该酶活性测定的优化,建立了该酶抑制物的筛选系统。筛选结果表明,这一以锥虫亮氨酰tRNA合成酶为靶标的抗锥虫药物筛选系统可以有效筛选抗锥虫化合物,选出的化合物有一定的抗锥虫特异性,并可以用于化合物的进一步优化和测定其半抑制浓度。使用这一系统筛选到了对锥虫有较好抑制作用,但对人类细胞毒性较小的一系列新型化合物,因而锥虫亮氨酰tRNA合成酶很可能成为开发有效抗锥虫药物的新靶标。     

A glycine hinge for tRNA-dependent translocation of editing substrates to prevent errors by leucyl-tRNA synthetase

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases often rely on a proofreading mechanism to clear mischarging errors before they can be incorporated into newly synthesized proteins. Leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LeuRS) houses a hydrolytic editing pocket in a domain that is distinct from its aminoacylation domain. Mischarged amino acids are transiently translocated ∼30 Å between active sites for editing by an unknown tRNA-dependent mechanism. A glycine within a flexible β-strand that links the aminoacylation and editing domains of LeuRS was determined to be important to tRNA translocation. The translocation-defective mutation also demonstrated that the editing site screens both correctly and incorrectly charged tRNAs prior to product release.     

Studying base pair open-close kinetics of tRNALeu by TROSY-based proton exchange NMR spectroscopy

The millisecond conformational flexibility is functionally important for nucleic acids and can be studied through probing the base pair open-close kinetics by proton exchange nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Here, the traditional imino proton exchange NMR experiments were modified with transverse relaxation optimized spectroscopy and were applied to accurately measure imino proton exchange rates of all base pairs in Escherichia coli tRNA^Leu (CAG), and their dependence on magnesium ion concentration. Finally, we correlated millisecond conformational flexibility with aminoacylation of tRNA^Leu and proposed that the flexibility of the acceptor stem and the core region might contribute to aminoacylation of tRNA^Leu.     

Molecular and functional dissection of a putative RNA-binding region in yeast mitochondrial leucyl-tRNA synthetase

Aminoacylation and editing by leucyl-tRNA synthetases (LeuRS) require migration of the tRNA acceptor stem end between the canonical aminoacylation core and a separate domain called CP1 that is responsible for amino acid editing. The LeuRS CP1 domain can also support group I intron RNA splicing in the yeast mitochondria, although splicing-sensitive sites have been identified on the main body. The RDW peptide, a highly conserved peptide within an RDW-containing motif, resides near one of the beta-strand linkers that connects the main body to the CP1 domain. We hypothesized that the RDW peptide was important for interactions of one or more of the LeuRS-RNA complexes. An assortment of X-ray crystallography structures suggests that the RDW peptide is dynamic and forms unique sets of interactions with the aminoacylation and editing complexes. Mutational analysis identified specific sites within the RDW peptide that failed to support protein synthesis activity in complementation experiments. In vitro enzymatic investigations of mutations at Trp445, Arg449, and Arg451 in yeast mitochondrial LeuRS suggested that these sites within the RDW peptide are critical to the aminoacylation complex, but impacted amino acid editing activity to a much less extent. We propose that these highly conserved sites primarily influence productive tRNA interactions in the aminoacylation complex.     

Kinetic Origin of Substrate Specificity in Post-Transfer Editing by Leucyl-tRNA Synthetase

The intrinsic editing capacities of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases ensure a high-fidelity translation of the amino acids that possess effective non-cognate aminoacylation surrogates. The dominant error-correction pathway comprises deacylation of misaminoacylated tRNA within the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase editing site. To assess the origin of specificity of Escherichia coli leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LeuRS) against the cognate aminoacylation product in editing, we followed binding and catalysis independently using cognate leucyl- and non-cognate norvalyl-tRNA^Leu and their non-hydrolyzable analogues. We found that the amino acid part (leucine versus norvaline) of (mis)aminoacyl-tRNAs can contribute approximately 10-fold to ground-state discrimination at the editing site. In sharp contrast, the rate of deacylation of leucyl- and norvalyl-tRNA^Leu differed by about 10⁴-fold. We further established the critical role for the A76 3′-OH group of the tRNA^Leu in post-transfer editing, which supports the substrate-assisted deacylation mechanism. Interestingly, the abrogation of the LeuRS specificity determinant threonine 252 did not improve the affinity of the editing site for the cognate leucine as expected, but instead substantially enhanced the rate of leucyl-tRNA^Leu hydrolysis. In line with that, molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the wild-type enzyme, but not the T252A mutant, enforced leucine to adopt the side-chain conformation that promotes the steric exclusion of a putative catalytic water. Our data demonstrated that the LeuRS editing site exhibits amino acid specificity of kinetic origin, arguing against the anticipated prominent role of steric exclusion in the rejection of leucine. This feature distinguishes editing from the synthetic site, which relies on ground-state discrimination in amino acid selection.     

Crystal Structures of the Human and Fungal Cytosolic Leucyl-tRNA Synthetase Editing Domains: A Structural Basis for the Rational Design of Antifungal Benzoxaboroles

Leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LeuRS) specifically links leucine to the 3′ end of tRNA^leu isoacceptors. The overall accuracy of the two-step aminoacylation reaction is enhanced by an editing domain that hydrolyzes mischarged tRNAs, notably ile-tRNA^leu. We present crystal structures of the editing domain from two eukaryotic cytosolic LeuRS: human and fungal pathogen Candida albicans. In comparison with previous structures of the editing domain from bacterial and archeal kingdoms, these structures show that the LeuRS editing domain has a conserved structural core containing the active site for hydrolysis, with distinct bacterial, archeal, or eukaryotic specific peripheral insertions. It was recently shown that the benzoxaborole antifungal compound AN2690 (5-fluoro-1,3-dihydro-1-hydroxy-1,2-benzoxaborole) inhibits LeuRS by forming a covalent adduct with the 3′ adenosine of tRNA^leu at the editing site, thus locking the enzyme in an inactive conformation. To provide a structural basis for enhancing the specificity of these benzoxaborole antifungals, we determined the structure at 2.2 Å resolution of the C. albicans editing domain in complex with a related compound, AN3018 (6-(ethylamino)-5-fluorobenzo[c][1,2]oxaborol-1(3H)-ol), using AMP as a surrogate for the 3′ adenosine of tRNA^leu. The interactions between the AN3018-AMP adduct and C. albicans LeuRS are similar to those previously observed for bacterial LeuRS with the AN2690 adduct, with an additional hydrogen bond to the extra ethylamine group. However, compared to bacteria, eukaryotic cytosolic LeuRS editing domains contain an extra helix that closes over the active site, largely burying the adduct and providing additional direct and water-mediated contacts. Small differences between the human domain and the fungal domain could be exploited to enhance fungal specificity.