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Internal motions in yeast phenylalanine transfer RNA from /sup 13/C NMR relaxation rates of modified base methyl groups: a model-free approach

Journal Article · · Biochemistry; (United States)
OSTI ID:5408431

Internal motions at specific locations through yeast phenylalanine tRNA were measured by using nucleic acid biosynthetically enriched in /sup 13/C at modified base methyl groups. Carbon NMR spectra of isotopically enriched tRNA/sup Phe/ reveal 12 individual peaks for 13 of the 14 methyl groups known to be present. The two methyls of N/sup 2/, N/sup 2/-dimethylguanosine (m/sub 2//sup 2/G-26) have indistinguishable resonances, whereas the fourteenth methyl bound to ring carbon-11 of the hypermodified nucleoside 3' adjacent to the anticodon, wyosine (Y-37), does not come from the (methyl-/sup 13/C) methionine substrate. Assignments to individual nucleosides within the tRNA were made on the basis of chemical shifts of the mononucleosides and correlation of /sup 13/C resonances with proton NMR chemical shifts via two-dimensional heteronuclear proton-carbon correlation spectroscopy. Values of /sup 13/C longitudinal relaxation (T/sub 1/) and the nuclear Overhauser enhancements (NOE) were determined at 22.5, 75.5, and 118 MHz for tRNA/sup Phe/ in a physiological buffer solution with 10 mM MgCl/sub 2/, at 22/sup 0/C. These data were used to extract two physical parameters that define the system with regard to fast internal motion: the generalized order parameters (S/sup 2/) and effective correlation times (tau/sub e/) for internal motion of the C-H internuclear vectors. For all methyl groups the generalized order parameter varied from 0.057 to 0.108, compared with the value of 0.111 predicted for a rapidly spinning methyl group rigidly mounted on a spherical macromolecule. Values of tau/sub e/ ranged from 4 to 16 ps, generally shorter times than measured in other work for amino acid methyl groups in several proteins. Somewhat surprising was the finding that the two methyl esters terminating the Y-37 side chain have order parameters similar to those of other methyls in tRNA and only 25% less than that for a methyl directly bonded to the base.

Research Organization:
Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Pasadena, CA (USA)
OSTI ID:
5408431
Journal Information:
Biochemistry; (United States), Journal Name: Biochemistry; (United States) Vol. 26:26; ISSN BICHA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English