Publication
Title
CMT disease severity correlates with mutation-induced open conformation of histidyl-tRNA synthetase, not aminoacylation loss, in patient cells
Author
Abstract
Aminoacyl-transfer RNA (tRNA) synthetases (aaRSs) are the largest protein family causatively linked to neurodegenerative Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease. Dominant mutations cause the disease, and studies of CMT disease-causing mutant glycyl-tRNA synthetase (GlyRS) and tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (TyrRS) showed their mutations create neomorphic structures consistent with a gain-of-function mechanism. In contrast, based on a haploid yeast model, loss of aminoacylation function was reported for CMT disease mutants in histidyl-tRNA synthetase (HisRS). However, neither that nor prior work of any CMT disease-causing aaRS investigated the aminoacylation status of tRNAs in the cellular milieu of actual patients. Using an assay that interrogated aminoacylation levels in patient cells, we investigated a HisRS-linked CMT disease family with the most severe disease phenotype. Strikingly, no difference in charged tRNA levels between normal and diseased family members was found. In confirmation, recombinant versions of 4 other HisRS CMT disease-causing mutants showed no correlation between activity loss in vitro and severity of phenotype in vivo. Indeed, a mutation having the most detrimental impact on activity was associated with a mild disease phenotype. In further work, using 3 independent biophysical analyses, structural opening (relaxation) of mutant HisRSs at the dimer interface best correlated with disease severity. In fact, the HisRS mutation in the severely afflicted patient family caused the largest degree of structural relaxation. These data suggest that HisRS-linked CMT disease arises from open conformation-induced mechanisms distinct from loss of aminoacylation.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - Washington, D.C.
AMERICA
Publication
Washington, D.C. : 2019
ISSN
0027-8424 [Print]
1091-6490 [Online]
DOI
10.1073/PNAS.1908288116
Volume/pages
116 :39 (2019) , p. 19440-19448
ISI
000487532900040
Pubmed ID
31501329
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Genomics of inherited neuromuscular disorders and beyond: towards the development of novel biomarkers and therapies.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 08.11.2019
Last edited 02.01.2025
To cite this reference