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Research Paper

Effects of conserved D/T loop substitutions in the pre-tRNA substrate on tRNase Z catalysis

Angela Hopkinson and Louis Levinger

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tRNAs are transcribed as precursors with a 5' end leader and a 3' end trailer. In the course of tRNA maturation, RNase P removes the 5' end leader and tRNase Z can endonucleolytically remove the 3' end trailer. A domain remote from the active site of tRNase Z recognizes and binds substrate, principally through contacts with the elbow (D/T loops) of the tRNA. To evaluate possible contacts, processing kinetics was performed using human nuclear encoded pre-tRNA^Arg with substitutions in conserved D and T loop nucleotides. Changes in KM observed with some of the substitutions suggest contacts between tRNase Z and substrate tRNA in this region, and changes in tRNA structure provide an additional basis for interpretation of the kinetic effects.

Authors

Angela Hopkinson

York College of the City University of New York; Jamaica, New York USA

Louis Levinger

York College of the City University of New York; Jamaica, New York USA

This is an open-access article

 Download PDF

If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.