The ribosome can discriminate the chirality of amino acids within its peptidyl-transferase center.

ABSTRACT: The cellular translational machinery (TM) synthesizes proteins using exclusively L- or achiral aminoacyl-tRNAs (aa-tRNAs), despite the presence of D-amino acids in nature and their ability to be aminoacylated onto tRNAs by aa-tRNA synthetases. The ubiquity of L-amino acids in proteins has led to the hypothesis that D-amino acids are not substrates for the TM. Supporting this view, protein engineering efforts to incorporate D-amino acids into proteins using the TM have thus far been unsuccessful. Nonetheless, a mechanistic understanding of why D-aa-tRNAs are poor substrates for the TM is lacking. To address this deficiency, we have systematically tested the translation activity of D-aa-tRNAs using a series of biochemical assays. We find that the TM can effectively, albeit slowly, accept D-a

SUBMITTER: Englander MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4434717 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature