scholarly journals The Role of Orthogonality in Genetic Code Expansion

Life ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pol Arranz-Gibert ◽  
Jaymin R. Patel ◽  
Farren J. Isaacs

The genetic code defines how information in the genome is translated into protein. Aside from a handful of isolated exceptions, this code is universal. Researchers have developed techniques to artificially expand the genetic code, repurposing codons and translational machinery to incorporate nonstandard amino acids (nsAAs) into proteins. A key challenge for robust genetic code expansion is orthogonality; the engineered machinery used to introduce nsAAs into proteins must co-exist with native translation and gene expression without cross-reactivity or pleiotropy. The issue of orthogonality manifests at several levels, including those of codons, ribosomes, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, tRNAs, and elongation factors. In this concept paper, we describe advances in genome recoding, translational engineering and associated challenges rooted in establishing orthogonality needed to expand the genetic code.

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 115-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Vargas-Rodriguez ◽  
Anastasia Sevostyanova ◽  
Dieter Söll ◽  
Ana Crnković

2002 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Mucha

This review is focused on findings concerning the presence of translation apparatus components (aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, aminoacyl-tRNA, elongation factors) as well as translation itself in the nucleus. A nuclear role of these molecules is unknown. New findings suggest that well-accepted model of spatial segregation of transcription and translation in eukaryotic cell may be oversimplifcation. Nuclear coupling of both these processes show us how exciting and surprising may be the world of the living cell.


eLife ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tammy J Bullwinkle ◽  
Noah M Reynolds ◽  
Medha Raina ◽  
Adil Moghal ◽  
Eleftheria Matsa ◽  
...  

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases use a variety of mechanisms to ensure fidelity of the genetic code and ultimately select the correct amino acids to be used in protein synthesis. The physiological necessity of these quality control mechanisms in different environments remains unclear, as the cost vs benefit of accurate protein synthesis is difficult to predict. We show that in Escherichia coli, a non-coded amino acid produced through oxidative damage is a significant threat to the accuracy of protein synthesis and must be cleared by phenylalanine-tRNA synthetase in order to prevent cellular toxicity caused by mis-synthesized proteins. These findings demonstrate how stress can lead to the accumulation of non-canonical amino acids that must be excluded from the proteome in order to maintain cellular viability.


Biochemistry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (7) ◽  
pp. 489-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine T. Grasso ◽  
Megan J. R. Yeo ◽  
Christen M. Hillenbrand ◽  
Elise D. Ficaretta ◽  
James S. Italia ◽  
...  

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre R. O. Cavalcanti ◽  
Elisa Soares Leite ◽  
Benício B. Neto ◽  
Ricardo Ferreira

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 1929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey V. Melnikov ◽  
Dieter Söll

In the past two decades, tRNA molecules and their corresponding aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRS) have been extensively used in synthetic biology to genetically encode post-translationally modified and unnatural amino acids. In this review, we briefly examine one fundamental requirement for the successful application of tRNA/aaRS pairs for expanding the genetic code. This requirement is known as “orthogonality”—the ability of a tRNA and its corresponding aaRS to interact exclusively with each other and avoid cross-reactions with additional types of tRNAs and aaRSs in a given organism.


Amino Acids ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas L. Williams ◽  
Debra J. Iskandar ◽  
Alexander R. Nödling ◽  
Yurong Tan ◽  
Louis Y. P. Luk ◽  
...  

AbstractGenetic code expansion is a powerful technique for site-specific incorporation of an unnatural amino acid into a protein of interest. This technique relies on an orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pair and has enabled incorporation of over 100 different unnatural amino acids into ribosomally synthesized proteins in cells. Pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) and its cognate tRNA from Methanosarcina species are arguably the most widely used orthogonal pair. Here, we investigated whether beneficial effect in unnatural amino acid incorporation caused by N-terminal mutations in PylRS of one species is transferable to PylRS of another species. It was shown that conserved mutations on the N-terminal domain of MmPylRS improved the unnatural amino acid incorporation efficiency up to five folds. As MbPylRS shares high sequence identity to MmPylRS, and the two homologs are often used interchangeably, we examined incorporation of five unnatural amino acids by four MbPylRS variants at two temperatures. Our results indicate that the beneficial N-terminal mutations in MmPylRS did not improve unnatural amino acid incorporation efficiency by MbPylRS. Knowledge from this work contributes to our understanding of PylRS homologs which are needed to improve the technique of genetic code expansion in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 593
Author(s):  
Jingjing Wang ◽  
Alexander Berestetskiy ◽  
Qiongbo Hu

Destruxin A (DA), a hexa-cyclodepsipeptidic mycotoxin produced by the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, exhibits insecticidal activities in a wide range of pests and is known as an innate immunity inhibitor. However, its mechanism of action requires further investigation. In this research, the interactions of DA with the six aminoacyl tRNA synthetases (ARSs) of Bombyx mori, BmAlaRS, BmCysRS, BmMetRS, BmValRS, BmIleRS, and BmGluProRS, were analyzed. The six ARSs were expressed and purified. The BLI (biolayer interferometry) results indicated that DA binds these ARSs with the affinity indices (KD) of 10−4 to 10−5 M. The molecular docking suggested a similar interaction mode of DA with ARSs, whereby DA settled into a pocket through hydrogen bonds with Asn, Arg, His, Lys, and Tyr of ARSs. Furthermore, DA treatments decreased the contents of soluble protein and free amino acids in Bm12 cells, which suggested that DA impedes protein synthesis. Lastly, the ARSs in Bm12 cells were all downregulated by DA stress. This study sheds light on exploring and answering the molecular target of DA against target insects.


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