title: An important 2'-OH group for an RNA-protein interaction.
abstract: We have investigated the role of 2'-OH groups in the specific interaction between the acceptor stem of Escherichia coli tRNA(Cys) and cysteine-tRNA synthetase. This interaction provides for the high aminoacylation specificity observed for cysteine-tRNA synthetase. A synthetic RNA microhelix that recapitulates the sequence of the acceptor stem was used as a substrate and variants containing systematic replacement of the 2'-OH by 2'-deoxy or 2'-O-methyl groups were tested. Except for position U73, all substitutions had little effect on aminoacylation. Interestingly, the deoxy substitution at position U73 had no effect on aminoacylation, but the 2'-O-methyl substitution decreased aminoacylation by 10-fold and addition of the even bulkier 2'-O-propyl group decreased aminoacylation by another 2-fold. The lack of an effect by the deoxy substitution suggests that the hydrogen bonding potential of the 2'-OH at position U73 is unimportant for aminoacylation. The decrease in activity upon alkyl substitution suggests that the 2'-OH group instead provides a monitor of the steric environment during the RNA-synthetase interaction. The steric role was confirmed in the context of a reconstituted tRNA and is consistent with the observation that the U73 base is the single most important determinant for aminoacylation and therefore is a site that is likely to be in close contact with cysteine-tRNA synthetase. A steric role is supported by an NMR-based structural model of the acceptor stem, together with biochemical studies of a closely related microhelix. This role suggests that the U73 binding site for cysteine-tRNA synthetase is sterically optimized to accommodate a 2'-OH group in the backbone, but that the hydroxyl group itself is not involved in specific hydrogen bonding interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. ya-ming.hou@mail.tju.edu
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Holland
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000215:Acylation; D000604:Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D003545:Cysteine / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D007700:Kinetics; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009843:Oligoribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012350:RNA, Transfer, Cys / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014529:Uridine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009843:Oligoribonucleotides; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012350:RNA, Transfer, Cys; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D000604:Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases; C019975:cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase; D003545:Cysteine; D014529:Uridine