In vitro selection to identify determinants in tRNA for Bacillus subtilis tyrS T box antiterminator mRNA binding

Biochemistry of Aminoacyl tRNA Synthetase and tRNAs and Their Engineering for Cell-Free and Synthetic Cell Applications

Cell-free biology is increasingly utilized for engineering biological systems, incorporating novel functionality, and circumventing many of the complications associated with cells. The central dogma describes the information flow in biology consisting of transcription and translation steps to decode genetic information. Aminoacyl tRNA synthetases (AARSs) and tRNAs are key components involved in translation and thus protein synthesis. This review provides information on AARSs and tRNA biochemistry, their role in the translation process, summarizes progress in cell-free engineering of tRNAs and AARSs, and discusses prospects and challenges lying ahead in cell-free engineering.

Factors that influence T box riboswitch efficacy and tRNA affinity

The T box riboswitch is an intriguing potential target for antibacterial drug discovery. Found primarily in Gram-positive bacteria, the riboswitch regulates gene expression by selectively responding to uncharged tRNA to control transcription readthrough. Polyamines and molecular crowding are known to specifically affect RNA function, but their effect on T box riboswitch efficacy and tRNA affinity have not been fully characterized. A fluorescence-monitored in vitro transcription assay was developed to readily quantify these molecular interactions and to provide a moderate-throughput functional assay for a comprehensive drug discovery screening cascade. The polyamine spermidine specifically enhanced T box riboswitch readthrough efficacy with an EC50 = 0.58 mM independent of tRNA binding. Molecular crowding, simulated by the addition of polyethylene glycol, had no effect on tRNA affinity for the riboswitch, but did reduce the efficacy of tRNA-induced readthrough. These results indicate that the T box riboswitch tRNA affinity and readthrough efficacy are intricately modulated by environmental factors.

Electrophoretic mobility shift assays: analysis of tRNA binding to the T box riboswitch antiterminator RNA

Changes in electrophoretic mobility upon complex formation with RNA can be used to probe structure-function relationships that are critical for complex formation. Here, we describe the application of this technique to monitor tRNA binding to the T box riboswitch antiterminator RNA.

Fluorescence anisotropy: analysis of tRNA binding to the T box riboswitch antiterminator RNA

Fluorescence anisotropy can be utilized in drug discovery screening assays to identify compounds that disrupt medicinally important RNA-macromolecular complexes. Here we describe the application of this technique to monitor tRNA binding to T box riboswitch antiterminator RNA.

Fluorescence assays for monitoring RNA-ligand interactions and riboswitch-targeted drug discovery screening

Riboswitches and other noncoding regulatory RNA are intriguing targets for the development of therapeutic agents. A significant challenge in the drug discovery process, however, is the identification of potent compounds that bind the target RNA specifically and disrupt its function. Essential to this process is an effectively designed cascade of screening assays. A screening cascade for identifying compounds that target the T box riboswitch antiterminator element is described. In the primary assays, moderate to higher throughput screening of compound libraries is achieved by combining the sensitivity of fluorescence techniques with functionally relevant assays. Active compounds are then validated and the binding to target RNA further characterized in secondary assays. The cascade of assays monitor ligand-induced changes in the steady-state fluorescence of an attached dye or internally incorporated 2-aminopurine; the fluorescence anisotropy of an RNA complex; and, the thermal denaturation fluorescence profile of a fluorophore-quencher labeled RNA. While the assays described have been developed for T box riboswitch-targeted drug discovery, the fluorescence methods and screening cascade design principles can be applied to drug discovery efforts targeted toward other medicinally relevant noncoding RNA.

Interfacing medicinal chemistry with structural bioinformatics: implications for T box riboswitch RNA drug discovery

Background

The T box riboswitch controls bacterial transcription by structurally responding to tRNA aminoacylation charging ratios. Knowledge of the thermodynamic stability difference between two competing structural elements within the riboswitch, the terminator and the antiterminator, is critical for effective T box-targeted drug discovery.

Methods

The ΔG of aminoacyl tRNA synthetase (aaRS) T box riboswitch terminators and antiterminators was predicted using DINAMelt and the resulting ΔΔG (ΔG_Terminator - ΔG_{Antiterminator}) values were compared.

Results

Average ΔΔG values did not differ significantly between the bacterial species analyzed, but there were significant differences based on the type of aaRS.

Conclusions

The data indicate that, of the bacteria studied, there is little potential for drug targeting based on overall bacteria-specific thermodynamic differences of the T box antiterminator vs. terminator stability, but that aaRS-specific thermodynamic differences could possibly be exploited for designing drug specificity.

Characterization of a 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazole binding to T box antiterminator RNA

The T box riboswitch regulates the transcription of many bacterial genes by structurally responding to cognate non-aminoacylated (uncharged) tRNA. The riboswitch contains multiple conserved RNA elements including a key structural element, the antiterminator, which binds the tRNA acceptor end nucleotides. Previous studies identified a lead 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazole, GHB-7, that disrupted formation of a tRNA-antiterminator RNA model complex. The affinity and molecular interactions of GHB-7 binding to antiterminator model RNA were characterized as part of a comprehensive T box antiterminator RNA-targeted drug discovery project. In-line probing, UV-monitored thermal denaturation and docking studies all consistently indicated that GHB-7 likely binds to the bulge region of the antiterminator, reduces the flexibility of the bulge nucleotides and, overall, stabilizes the RNA secondary structure. These results begin to elucidate possible mechanisms for ligand-induced inhibition of tRNA binding to T box antiterminator RNA and contribute to the knowledge of how small molecules bind relatively simple RNA structural elements such as bulges.

Transcriptional regulation of histidine biosynthesis genes in Corynebacterium glutamicum

Corynebacterium glutamicum , a gram-positive bacterium, has been widely used for industrial amino acid production. Corynebacterium glutamicum his genes are located and transcribed in two unlinked loci, hisEG and hisDCB–orf1–orf2–hisHA–impA–hisFI. The latter his operon starts the transcription at the C residue localized 196 bp upstream of the hisD ATG start codon. Our computer-based sequence analysis showed that the region corresponding to the untranslated 5′ end of the transcript, named the hisD leader region, displays the typical features of the T-box transcriptional attenuation mechanism. Therefore, expression of the cat reporter gene under the control of the wild-type or mutated hisD leader regions was tested in multi-copy (pProm and pTer series) and in single-copy (pInt series) systems under conditions of sufficient or limited histidine. Our mutational studies led to the conclusion that the CAU histidine specifier and 5′-UGGA-3′ sequence in the hisD leader region are required for the hisDCB–orf1–orf2–hisHA–impA–hisFI gene regulation. The cat gene expression from the wild-type leader region was negatively regulated by histidine. However, the cat gene expression from mutated leader regions was irresponsive to the level of histidine in the growth medium. Taken together, we propose that a T-box mediated attenuation mechanism is responsible for the gene expression of the hisDCB–orf1–orf2–hisHA–impA–hisFI operon in C. glutamicum.

T box transcription antitermination riboswitch: influence of nucleotide sequence and orientation on tRNA binding by the antiterminator element

Many bacteria utilize riboswitch transcription regulation to monitor and appropriately respond to cellular levels of important metabolites or effector molecules. The T box transcription antitermination riboswitch responds to cognate uncharged tRNA by specifically stabilizing an antiterminator element in the 5'-untranslated mRNA leader region and precluding formation of a thermodynamically more stable terminator element. Stabilization occurs when the tRNA acceptor end base pairs with the first four nucleotides in the seven nucleotide bulge of the highly conserved antiterminator element. The significance of the conservation of the antiterminator bulge nucleotides that do not base pair with the tRNA is unknown, but they are required for optimal function. In vitro selection was used to determine if the isolated antiterminator bulge context alone dictates the mode in which the tRNA acceptor end binds the bulge nucleotides. No sequence conservation beyond complementarity was observed and the location was not constrained to the first four bases of the bulge. The results indicate that formation of a structure that recognizes the tRNA acceptor end in isolation is not the determinant driving force for the high phylogenetic sequence conservation observed within the antiterminator bulge. Additional factors or T box leader features more likely influenced the phylogenetic sequence conservation.

An in silico analysis of T-box regulated genes and T-box evolution in prokaryotes, with emphasis on prediction of substrate specificity of transporters

BACKGROUND

T-box anti-termination is an elegant and sensitive mechanism by which many bacteria maintain constant levels of amino acid-charged tRNAs. The amino acid specificity of the regulatory element is related to a so-called specifier codon and can in principle be used to guide the functional annotation of the genes controlled via the T-box anti-termination mechanism.

RESULTS

Hidden Markov Models were defined to search the T-box regulatory element and were applied to all completed prokaryotic genomes. The vast majority of the genes found downstream of the retrieved elements encoded functionalities related to transport and synthesis of amino acids and the charging of tRNA. This is completely in line with findings reported in literature and with the proposed biological role of the regulatory element. For several species, the functional annotation of a large number of genes encoding proteins involved in amino acid transport could be improved significantly on basis of the amino acid specificity of the identified T-boxes. In addition, these annotations could be extrapolated to a larger number of orthologous systems in other species. Analysis of T-box distribution confirmed that the element is restricted predominantly to species of the phylum Firmicutes. Furthermore, it appeared that the distribution was highly species specific and that in the case of amino acid transport some boxes seemed to "pop-up" only recently.

CONCLUSION

We have demonstrated that the identification of the molecular specificity of a regulatory element can be of great help in solving notoriously difficult annotation issues, e.g. by defining the substrate specificity of genes encoding amino acid transporters on basis of the amino acid specificity of the regulatory T-box. Furthermore, our analysis of the species-dependency of the occurrence of specific T-boxes indicated that these regulatory elements propagate in a semi-independent way from the genes that they control.

Comparative genomic analysis of T-box regulatory systems in bacteria

T-box antitermination is one of the main mechanisms of regulation of genes involved in amino acid metabolism in Gram-positive bacteria. T-box regulatory sites consist of conserved sequence and RNA secondary structure elements. Using a set of known T-box sites, we constructed the common pattern and used it to scan available bacterial genomes. New T-boxes were found in various Gram-positive bacteria, some Gram-negative bacteria (delta-proteobacteria), and some other bacterial groups (Deinococcales/Thermales, Chloroflexi, Dictyoglomi). The majority of T-box-regulated genes encode aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Two other groups of T-box-regulated genes are amino acid biosynthetic genes and transporters, as well as genes with unknown function. Analysis of candidate T-box sites resulted in new functional annotations. We assigned the amino acid specificity to a large number of candidate amino acid transporters and a possible function to amino acid biosynthesis genes. We then studied the evolution of the T-boxes. Analysis of the constructed phylogenetic trees demonstrated that in addition to the normal evolution consistent with the evolution of regulated genes, T-boxes may be duplicated, transferred to other genes, and change specificity. We observed several cases of recent T-box regulon expansion following the loss of a previously existing regulatory system, in particular, arginine regulon in Clostridium difficile and methionine regulon in Lactobacillaceae. Finally, we described a new structural class of T-boxes containing duplicated terminator-antiterminator elements and unusual reduced T-boxes regulating initiation of translation in the Actinobacteria.

Identification of neomycin B-binding site in T box antiterminator model RNA

The T box transcription antitermination mechanism regulates the expression of unique genes in many Gram-positive bacteria by responding, in a magnesium-dependent manner, to uncharged cognate tRNA base pairing with an antiterminator RNA element and other regions of the 5'-untranslated region. Model T box antiterminator RNA is known to bind aminoglycosides, ligands that typically bind RNA in divalent metal ion-binding sites. In this study, enzymatic footprinting and spectroscopic assays were used to identify and characterize the binding site of neomycin B to an antiterminator model RNA. Neomycin B binds the antiterminator bulge nucleotides in an electrostatic-dependent manner and displaces 3-4 monovalent cations, indicating that the antiterminator likely contains a divalent metal ion-binding site. Neomycin B facilitates rather than inhibits tRNA binding indicating that bulge-targeted inhibitors that bind the antiterminator via non-electrostatic interactions may be the more optimal candidates for antiterminator-targeted ligand design.

T box riboswitch antiterminator affinity modulated by tRNA structural elements

A unique RNA-RNA interaction occurs between uncharged tRNA and the untranslated mRNA leader region of bacterial T box genes. The interaction results in activation of a transcriptional antitermination molecular switch (riboswitch) by stabilizing an antiterminator RNA element and precluding formation of a competing transcriptional terminator RNA element. The stabilization requires the base pairing of cognate tRNA acceptor end nucleotides with the antiterminator. To develop an appropriate model system for detailed structural studies and to screen for small molecule disruption of this important RNA-RNA interaction, steady-state fluorescence measurements of antiterminator model RNAs were used to determine the dissociation constant for model tRNA binding. The antiterminator-binding affinity for the full, minihelix, microhelix, and tetramer tRNA models differed by orders of magnitude. In addition, not all of the tRNA models exhibited functionally relevant binding specificity. The results from these experiments highlight the importance of looking beyond the level of known base pairing interactions when designing functionally relevant models of riboswitch systems.