Excision of nucleotides from the dihydrouridine loop of yeast phenylalanine transfer ribonucleic acid

Conformational changes of yeast tRNAPhe upon interaction with intercalators probed by nuclease digestion

The conformational changes of yeast-tRNAPhe induced by various intercalators have been studied using limited digestions with nucleases S1 and T1. The results show an increased sensitivity to T1 in the D-loop, suggesting a weakening of the D-loop-T-loop interaction. Furthermore, the results are best explained by a non-intercalative binding of the eyes, probably in the D-loop-T-loop cavity.

Rate of tritium labeling of specific purines in relation to nucleic acid and particularly transfer RNA conformation

The kinetics of the incorporation of tritium into the C-8 positions of purine units in nucleic acids has been studied. The polymers investigated include poly(A), poly(A): poly (U) duplex, a double-stranded viral RNA, tRNA, and DNA. In the random coil state, the kinetics of incorporation of tritium into the purine sites of the polymers are identical with those for the corresponding purine mononucleotides. When the nucleic acids are in their native conformations, however, the purine labeling rates are reduced below that expected for the free mononucleotides. The magnitude of the effect is remarkably dependent upon the particular nucleic acid. For example, at 37 degrees C the purines in double-stranded DNA label at a rate two- to threefold slower than the corresponding mononucleotides, but in a double-stranded viral RNA, a 30- to 40-fold effect is found. The data suggest a strong influence of microscopic helix structure on the rate of tritium incorporation. First-order rate constants for the exchange of tritium into specific purine sites in yeast tRNAPhe were also determined. This was done by partially labeling the nucleic acid in tritiated water, and subsequently removing free and loosely bound tritium. Under conditions where exchange-out does not occur, the nucleic acid was digested with specific nucleases; chromatographic separation then enabled specific activities of purines from specific sites to be obtained. The rate constants for these sites show a large variation. They are markedly reduced for those residues occurring in cloverleaf helical sections and, in certain cases, for those known from crystallographic data to be involved in tertiary interactions. As examples of bases that can participate in tertiary interactions, the crystal structures show A14 and G15 in special base-pairing arrangements. Both purines (A14 and G15) occur in single-stranded sections of the cloverleaf; both show markedly reduced C-8 hydrogen-exchange rates. On the other hand, rate constants for bases and regions known to be on the outside of the moleculesuch as the anticodon loop and the 3' terminusāre perturbed the least. In one instance, a base in the dihydrouridine loop believed to be involved in tertiary interactions, according to crystallographic studies, incorporates tritium as if it were relatively unperburbed by the tRNA structure. The structural interactions of this base may be partially or completely broken at 37 degrees C in solution.

Transfer RNA conformation in solution investigated by isotope labeling

The incorporation of tritium into the C-8 position of purine residues in yeast tRNA(Phe) is shown to be markedly dependent on the conformation of the molecule. The completely unfolded molecule incorporates tritium at a rate commensurate to that expected for free purine nucleotides, but partially or completely folded forms incorporate proportionately less. The labeling of specific purine sites is determined by digesting the nucleic acid with a specific nuclease and analyzing each of the radioactive fragments produced. This analysis reveals that the amount of labeling of a purine in the folded form is strongly dependent upon its position in the sequence, whereas purine labeling in the unfolded form is independent of sequence position. The labeling pattern of the different bases in the folded form agrees fairly well with what is expected, based on existing solution and x-ray data on the conformation, i.e., residues involved in helical sections or apparently masked by tertiary interactions label more slowly than those on the "outside" of the molecule. Finally, folding and unfolding of specific regions of the macromolecule may be followed by the isotope labeling.