Published online 11 August 2006
Nucleic Acids Research, 2006, Vol. 34, No. 13 3811-3818
© 2006 The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commerical use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article |
Identification by Mn2+ rescue of two residues essential for the proton transfer of tRNase Z catalysis
Department of Applied Life Sciences, Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences Niigata, Niigata 956-8603, Japan 1 RIKEN Genomic Sciences Center Tsurumi, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan 2 RIKEN Harima Institute at SPring-8 Sayo-gun, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan 3 Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +81 250 25 5119; Fax: +81 250 25 5021; Email: mnashimoto{at}niigatayakudai.jp
Received May 17, 2006. Accepted July 6, 2006.
Thermotoga maritima tRNase Z cleaves pre-tRNAs containing the 74CCA76 sequence precisely after the A76 residue to create the mature 3' termini. Its crystal structure has revealed a four-layer
ß/ß
sandwich fold that is typically found in the metallo-ß-lactamase superfamily. The well-conserved six histidine and two aspartate residues together with metal ions are assumed to form the tRNase Z catalytic center. Here, we examined tRNase Z variants containing single amino acid substitutions in the catalytic center for pre-tRNA cleavage. Cleavage by each variant in the presence of Mg2+ was hardly detected, although it is bound to pre-tRNA. Surprisingly, however, Mn2+ ions restored the lost Mg2+-dependent activity with two exceptions of the Asp52Ala and His222Ala substitutions, which abolished the activity almost completely. These results provide a piece of evidence that Asp-52 and His-222 directly contribute the proton transfer for the catalysis.
![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
K. Podzelinska, S.-M. He, M. Wathier, A. Yakunin, M. Proudfoot, B. Hove-Jensen, D. L. Zechel, and Z. Jia Structure of PhnP, a Phosphodiesterase of the Carbon-Phosphorus Lyase Pathway for Phosphonate Degradation J. Biol. Chem., June 19, 2009; 284(25): 17216 - 17226. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
H. Takaku and M. Nashimoto Escherichia coli tRNase Z can shut down growth probably by removing amino acids from aminoacyl-tRNAs Genes Cells, November 1, 2008; 13(11): 1087 - 1097. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||

