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Title: Structural basis for full-spectrum inhibition of translational functions on a tRNA synthetase

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7402· OSTI ID:1259897
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Scripps Research Inst., Jupiter, FL (United States)
  2. Seoul National Univ. (Korea)
  3. Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT (United States)

The polyketide natural product borrelidin displays antibacterial, antifungal, antimalarial, anticancer, insecticidal and herbicidal activities through the selective inhibition of threonyl-tRNA synthetase (ThrRS). How borrelidin simultaneously attenuates bacterial growth and suppresses a variety of infections in plants and animals is not known. Here we show, using X-ray crystal structures and functional analyses, that a single molecule of borrelidin simultaneously occupies four distinct subsites within the catalytic domain of bacterial and human ThrRSs. These include the three substrate-binding sites for amino acid, ATP and tRNA associated with aminoacylation, and a fourth ‘orthogonal’ subsite created as a consequence of binding. Thus, borrelidin competes with all three aminoacylation substrates, providing a potent and redundant mechanism to inhibit ThrRS during protein synthesis. These results highlight a surprising natural design to achieve the quadrivalent inhibition of translation through a highly conserved family of enzymes.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Inst. of General Medical Sciences; Korean Global Frontier Project; National Inst. of Health
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; AC02-05CH11231; AC02-76SF00515; P41GM103393; M1AXA002-2010-0029785; T32 ES007122-23; GM54899; GM100136; GM106134
OSTI ID:
1259897
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 2015; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 54 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Interspecies analysis of MYC targets identifies tRNA synthetases as mediators of growth and survival in MYC-overexpressing cells journal July 2019
Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase dependent angiogenesis revealed by a bioengineered macrolide inhibitor journal August 2015
Evolutionary Limitation and Opportunities for Developing tRNA Synthetase Inhibitors with 5-Binding-Mode Classification journal December 2015
Genomic analyses of aminoacyl tRNA synthetases from human-infecting helminths journal May 2019
Selective inhibition of apicoplast tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase causes delayed death in Plasmodium falciparum journal June 2016
A threonyl-tRNA synthetase-mediated translation initiation machinery journal March 2019
Roles of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in immune regulation and immune diseases journal November 2019
Drugging tRNA aminoacylation journal November 2017
Drugging tRNA aminoacylation text January 2018
New Borrelidins from Onchidium sp. Associated Streptomyces olivaceus SCSIO LO13 journal December 2019
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