Hou Ya-Ming, Perona John J
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, 233 South 10th St., Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
FEBS Lett. 2010 Jan 21;584(2):278-86. doi: 10.1016/j.febslet.2009.11.075.
Methylation of tRNA on the four canonical bases adds structural complexity to the molecule, and improves decoding specificity and efficiency. While many tRNA methylases are known, detailed insight into the catalytic mechanism is only available in a few cases. Of interest among all tRNA methylases is the structural basis for nucleotide selection, by which the specificity is limited to a single site, or broadened to multiple sites. General themes in catalysis include the basis for rate acceleration at highly diverse nucleophilic centers for methyl transfer, using S-adenosylmethionine as a cofactor. Studies of tRNA methylases have also yielded insights into molecular evolution, particularly in the case of enzymes that recognize distinct structures to perform identical reactions at the same target nucleotide.
tRNA 四种标准碱基上的甲基化增加了分子的结构复杂性,并提高了解码的特异性和效率。虽然已知许多 tRNA 甲基化酶,但只有少数情况下对其催化机制有详细的了解。在所有 tRNA 甲基化酶中,令人感兴趣的是核苷酸选择的结构基础,通过该基础,特异性被限制在单个位点,或扩展到多个位点。催化的一般主题包括在以 S-腺苷甲硫氨酸作为辅因子的情况下,在高度多样化的亲核中心进行甲基转移时速率加速的基础。对 tRNA 甲基化酶的研究也为分子进化提供了见解,特别是在那些识别不同结构以在相同靶核苷酸上进行相同反应的酶的情况下。