title: Transfer RNA: From pioneering crystallographic studies to contemporary tRNA biology.
abstract: Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) play a key role in protein synthesis as adaptor molecules between messenger RNA and protein sequences on the ribosome. Their discovery in the early sixties provoked a worldwide infatuation with the study of their architecture and their function in the decoding of genetic information. tRNAs are also emblematic molecules in crystallography: the determination of the first tRNA crystal structures represented a milestone in structural biology and tRNAs were for a long period the sole source of information on RNA folding, architecture, and post-transcriptional modifications. Crystallographic data on tRNAs in complex with aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) also provided the first insight into protein:RNA interactions. Beyond the translation process and the history of structural investigations on tRNA, this review also illustrates the renewal of tRNA biology with the discovery of a growing number of tRNA partners in the cell, the involvement of tRNAs in a variety of regulatory and metabolic pathways, and emerging applications in biotechnology and synthetic biology.
authors.affiliation: UPR 9002 du CNRS, Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, IBMC, Université de Strasbourg, 15 rue René Descarte, Strasbourg, F-67084, France.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fernández-Millán
authors.affiliation: UPR 2357 du CNRS, IBMP, Université de Strasbourg, 12 rue du général Zimmer, F-67084, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Cédric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schelcher
authors.affiliation: UPR 9002 du CNRS, Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, IBMC, Université de Strasbourg, 15 rue René Descarte, Strasbourg, F-67084, France; Department of Chemistry, Carleton College, 1 North College Street, Northfield, MN 55057, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chihade
authors.affiliation: UMR 7156 du CNRS, Génétique Moléculaire, Génomique, Microbiologie, Université de Strasbourg, 4 Allée Konrad Roentgen, Strasbourg, F-67084, France.
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Masquida
authors.affiliation: UPR 2357 du CNRS, IBMP, Université de Strasbourg, 12 rue du général Zimmer, F-67084, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giegé
authors.affiliation: UPR 9002 du CNRS, Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, IBMC, Université de Strasbourg, 15 rue René Descarte, Strasbourg, F-67084, France. Electronic address: c.sauter@ibmc-cnrs.unistra.fr.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sauter
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D053838:Scattering, Small Angle; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012343:RNA, Transfer
keywords: Crystallography; Genetic code; Protein synthesis; RNA:protein recognition; Transfer RNA; Translation