title: tRNA stabilization by modified nucleotides.
abstract: Post-transcriptional ribonucleotide modification is a phenomenon best studied in tRNA, where it occurs most frequently and in great chemical diversity. This paper reviews the intrinsic network of modifications in the structural core of the tRNA, which governs structural flexibility and rigidity to fine-tune the molecule to peak performance and to regulate its steady-state level. Structural effects of RNA modifications range from nanometer-scale rearrangements to subtle restrictions of conformational space on the angstrom scale. Structural stabilization resulting from nucleotide modification results in increased thermal stability and translates into protection against unspecific degradation by bases and nucleases. Several mechanisms of specific degradation of hypomodified tRNA, which were only recently discovered, provide a link between structural and metabolic stability.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire ARN-RNP Maturation-Structure-Fonction, Enzymologie Moléculaire et Structurale (AREMS), UMR 7214 CNRS-UHP Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Henri Poincaré, Nancy 1, Bld des Aiguillettes, BP 70239, 54506 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Motorin
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Helm
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000737:chemistry*; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D020871:RNA Stability; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009711:Nucleotides; D012343:RNA, Transfer