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Journal articles
Roles of yeast eIF2α and eIF2β subunits in the binding of the initiator methionyl-tRNA
Abstract : Heterotrimeric eukaryotic/archaeal translation initiation factor 2 (e/aIF2) binds initiator methionyl-tRNA and plays a key role in the selection of the start codon on messenger RNA. tRNA binding was extensively studied in the archaeal system. The γ subunit is able to bind tRNA, but the α subunit is required to reach high affinity whereas the β subunit has only a minor role. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae however, the available data suggest an opposite scenario with β having the most important contribution to tRNA-binding affinity. In order to overcome difficulties with purification of the yeast eIF2γ subunit, we designed chimeric eIF2 by assembling yeast α and β subunits to archaeal γ subunit. We show that the β subunit of yeast has indeed an important role, with the eukaryote-specific N- and C-terminal domains being necessary to obtain full tRNA-binding affinity. The α subunit apparently has a modest contribution. However, the positive effect of α on tRNA binding can be progressively increased upon shortening the acidic C-terminal extension. These results, together with small angle X-ray scattering experiments, support the idea that in yeast eIF2, the tRNA molecule is bound by the α subunit in a manner similar to that observed in the archaeal aIF2-GDPNP-tRNA complex. © The Author(s) 2012. Published by Oxford University Press.
Cited literature [34 references]
https://hal-polytechnique.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00840386
Contributor : Denis Roura <>
Submitted on : Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - 3:28:51 PM
Last modification on : Wednesday, July 29, 2020 - 4:10:05 PM
Long-term archiving on: : Thursday, October 3, 2013 - 4:09:12 AM
Contributor : Denis Roura <>
Submitted on : Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - 3:28:51 PM
Last modification on : Wednesday, July 29, 2020 - 4:10:05 PM
Long-term archiving on: : Thursday, October 3, 2013 - 4:09:12 AM
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