title: Selenocysteine tRNAs as central components of selenoprotein biosynthesis in eukaryotes.
abstract: Selenocysteine (Sec) tRNAs serve as carrier molecules for the biosynthesis of Sec from serine and to donate Sec to protein in response to specific UGA codons. In this study, we describe the current status of Sec tRNAs in higher animals and further we examine: (i) the Sec tRNA population in Drosophila; (ii) transcription of the Sec tRNA in vivo (in Xenopus oocytes) and in vitro (in Xenopus oocyte extracts); (iii) the effect of selenium on the Sec tRNA population in various rat tissues following replenishment of extremely selenium deficient rats with this element; and (iv) the biosynthesis of the modified bases on Sec tRNA in Xenopus oocytes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chittum
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Hatfield
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D011506:Proteins; D012345:RNA, Transfer, Amino Acid-Specific / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051140:Selenoproteins; D012714:Serine-tRNA Ligase / Q000235:genetics; D014981:Xenopus
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012345:RNA, Transfer, Amino Acid-Specific; D051140:Selenoproteins; C036928:tRNA, selenocysteine-; D012714:Serine-tRNA Ligase