US-France Cooperative Research: New X-ray Techniques to Study Ligation State Changes in Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases

该奖项将支持北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校的Charles W. Carter博士和法国伊维特河畔吉夫分子遗传中心的Charles Zelwer博士之间的合作研究。Drs。Carter和Zelwer目前正在参与一个关于氨基酰基trna合成酶的三维结构的项目。他们的团队正在研究两种不同氨基酸的酶：卡特博士研究嗜脂嗜热杆菌的色氨酸酶，泽尔维尔博士研究大肠杆菌的蛋氨酸酶。每个研究人员在数据收集和阶段确定方法方面都有不同的专业领域，拟议的项目将受益于他们的经验和资源的结合。在这个项目中，dr。Carter和Zelwer计划1)合作实施和测试一种经验吸收校正方法，该方法用于使用三圆测角仪和二维面积探测器收集的x射线强度数据；2)完成一系列天然和配体形式II型甲硫基trna合成酶晶体的数据收集；3)从一种形式的色氨酸酶收集高分辨率同步加速器数据；4)比较两种氨基酰基- trna合成酶不同构象之间的异同。本研究结果将有助于我们对氨基酰基- trna合成酶的理解；这些酶通过识别和特异性组装20种氨基酸及其同源转移RNA分子的能力来监督遗传密码的翻译。

This award will support collaborative research between Dr. Charles W. Carter, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Dr. Charles Zelwer, Centre de Genetique Moleculaire, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. Drs. Carter and Zelwer are presently involved in a project on the topic of three-dimensional structures of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. Their groups are working on enzymes for two different amino acids: Dr. Carter on the tryptophanyl enzyme from B. stearothermophilus and Dr. Zelwer on the methionyl enzyme from E. coli. The investigators each have different areas of expertise with data collection and phase determination methods and the proposed project will benefit from a combination of their experiences and resources. In this project, Drs. Carter and Zelwer plan 1) to cooperate on implementing and testing programs for an empirical absorption correction method for use in collected X-ray intensity data using three-circle goniometry and a two-dimensional area detector; 2) to complete data collection on a series of native and liganded form II methionyl-tRNA synthetase crystals; 3) to collect high resolution synchrotron data from one form of the tryptophanyl enzyme, and 4) to compare differences and similarities between different conformations of the two aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases. The results of this research will contribute to our understanding of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases; these enzymes supervise translation of the genetic code by virtue of their ability to recognize and assemble specifically the twenty amino acids and their cognatetransfer RNA molecules.