ESCRT-III (endosomal sorting complexes required for transport-III) subunits cycle between two states: soluble monomers and higher-order assemblies that bind and remodel membranes during endosomal vesicle formation, midbody abscission and enveloped virus budding. Here, we show that the N-terminal core domains of IST1 (increased sodium tolerance-1) and CHMP3 (charged multivesicularbody protein-3) form equivalent four-helix bundles, revealing that IST1 is a previously unrecognized ESCRT-III family member. IST1 and its ESCRT-III binding partner, CHMP1B, both form higher-order helical structures in vitro, and IST1-CHMP1 interactions are required for abscission. The IST1 and CHMP3 structures also reveal that equivalent downstream α5 helices can fold back against the core domains. Mutations within the CHMP3 core-α5 interface stimulate the protein’s in vitro assembly and HIV inhibition activities, indicating that dissociation of the autoinhibitory α5 helix from the core activates ESCRT-III proteins for assembly at membranes.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are a targeted chemotherapeutic currently at the cutting edge of oncology medicine. These hybrid molecules consist of a tumor antigen-specific antibody coupled to a chemotherapeutic small molecule. Through targeted delivery of potent cytotoxins, ADCs exhibit improved therapeutic index and enhanced efficacy relative to traditional chemotherapies and monoclonal antibody therapies. The currently FDA-approved ADCs, Kadcyla (Immunogen/Roche) and Adcetris (Seattle Genetics), are produced by conjugation to surface-exposed lysines, or partial disulfide reduction and conjugation to free cysteines, respectively. These stochastic modes of conjugation lead to heterogeneous drug products with varied numbers of drugs conjugated across several possible sites. As a consequence, the field has limited understanding of the relationships between the site and extent of drug loading and ADC attributes such as efficacy, safety, pharmacokinetics, and immunogenicity. A robust platform for rapid production of ADCs with defined and uniform sites of drug conjugation would enable such studies. We have established a cell-free protein expression system for production of antibody drug conjugates through site-specific incorporation of the optimized non-natural amino acid, para-azidomethyl-l-phenylalanine (pAMF). By using our cell-free protein synthesis platform to directly screen a library of aaRS variants, we have discovered a novel variant of the Methanococcus jannaschii tyrosyl tRNA synthetase (TyrRS), with a high activity and specificity toward pAMF. We demonstrate that site-specific incorporation of pAMF facilitates near complete conjugation of a DBCO-PEG-monomethyl auristatin (DBCO-PEG-MMAF) drug to the tumor-specific, Her2-binding IgG Trastuzumab using strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) copper-free click chemistry. The resultant ADCs proved highly potent in in vitro cell cytotoxicity assays.

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Glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase generates Gln-tRNA Gln 10 7 -fold more efficiently than Glu-tRNA Gln and requires tRNA to synthesize the activated aminoacyl adenylate in the first step of the reaction. To examine the role of tRNA in amino acid activation more closely, several assays employing a tRNA analog in which the 2-OH group at the 3-terminal A76 nucleotide is replaced with hydrogen (tRNA 2H Gln ) were developed. These experiments revealed a 10 4 -fold reduction in k cat /K m in the presence of the analog, suggesting a direct catalytic role for tRNA in the activation reaction. The catalytic importance of the A76 2-OH group in aminoacylation mirrors a similar role for this moiety that has recently been demonstrated during peptidyl transfer on the ribosome. Unexpectedly, tracking of Gln-AMP formation utilizing an ␣-32 P-labeled ATP substrate in the presence of tRNA 2H Gln showed that AMP accumulates 5-fold more rapidly than Gln-AMP. A cold-trapping experiment revealed that the nonenzymatic rate of Gln-AMP hydrolysis is too slow to account for the rapid AMP formation; hence, the hydrolysis of Gln-AMP to form glutamine and AMP must be directly catalyzed by the GlnRS⅐tRNA 2H Gln complex. This hydrolysis of glutaminyl adenylate represents a novel reaction that is directly analogous to the pre-transfer editing hydrolysis of noncognate aminoacyl adenylates by editing synthetases such as isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase. Because glutaminyltRNA synthetase does not possess a spatially separate editing domain, these data demonstrate that a pre-transfer editing-like reaction can occur within the synthetic site of a class I tRNA synthetase.The specificity of protein synthesis depends upon the fidelity of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRS).1 These enzymes attach amino acids to the 3Ј terminus of transfer RNAs in a two-step reaction (1). First, the amino acid is activated by reaction with ATP, to yield an aminoacyl adenylate intermediate and pyrophosphate. In the second step, one of the two hydroxyl oxygens of the 3Ј-terminal A76 nucleotide of tRNA attacks the carbonyl carbon of the adenylate, producing aminoacyl-tRNA with release of AMP. Each synthetase must discriminate among both structurally similar amino acids and tRNAs, selecting only the cognate species from cellular pools with an overall accuracy of approximately one error per 10 4 -10 5 codons (2). While the subsequent interaction of aminoacyl-tRNA with elongation factors may also provide some selection (3), it is clear that the specificity of protein synthesis primarily arises from the tRNA synthetase-mediated step.It is well established that some tRNA synthetases are unable to accurately discriminate among chemically similar amino acids based solely on interactions made in the synthetic active site (reviewed in Ref. 4). These enzymes possess an additional hydrolytic activity for deacylation of misaminoacylated tRNAs. This reaction occurs in a second active site that effectively excludes correctly aminoacylated products. For example, in IleRS the synthetic active site canno...

Pre-steady-state kinetic studies of Escherichia coli glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase conclusively demonstrate the existence of long-distance pathways of communication through the protein-RNA complex. Measurements of aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis reveal a rapid burst of product formation followed by a slower linear increase corresponding to k cat. Thus, a step after chemistry but before regeneration of active enzyme is rate-limiting for synthesis of Gln-tRNA Gln . Single-turnover kinetics validates these observations, confirming that the rate of the chemical step for tRNA aminoacylation (k chem) exceeds the steady-state rate by nearly 10-fold. The concentration dependence of the single-turnover reaction further reveals that the glutamine Kd is significantly higher than the steady-state K m value. The separation of binding from catalytic events by transient kinetics now allows precise interpretation of how alterations in tRNA structure affect the aminoacylation reaction. Mutation of U35 in the tRNA anticodon loop decreases k chem by 30-fold and weakens glutamine binding affinity by 20-fold, demonstrating that the active-site configuration depends on enzyme-tRNA contacts some 40 Å distant. By contrast, mutation of the adjacent G36 has very small effects on k chem and Kd for glutamine. Together with x-ray crystallographic data, these findings allow a comparative evaluation of alternative long-range signaling pathways and lay the groundwork for systematic exploration of how induced-fit conformational transitions may control substrate selection in this model enzyme-RNA complex.R ecognition between proteins and RNA generally occurs by an induced-fit mechanism, in which the protein, the RNA, or both undergo conformational changes en route to the final bound complex (1, 2). Although induced fit necessarily incurs an entropic penalty compared with a preformed and rigid interaction, the built-in flexibility nonetheless may help to increase the kinetic association rate, thus lowering the free-energy barrier for complex formation. In enzymatic reactions, it is also established that induced fit can provide a means to increase substrate specificity: Noncognate substrates may induce partial or incorrect rearrangements, leading to misalignment of reactive moieties along the pathway to the transition state (3). Thus, enzymes that modify RNA may employ induced fit for substrate discrimination at both binding and catalytic steps of the reaction.Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are superb model systems for investigating the operation of induced fit in enzyme-RNA complexes. In all organisms, these enzymes maintain fidelity of the genetic code by catalyzing the synthesis of cognate aminoacyl-tRNAs for use in protein synthesis (4). This synthesis occurs by means of a two-step reaction in which the amino acid is first activated to form an aminoacyl adenylate intermediate with release of pyrophosphate (PP i ). In the second step, the nucleophilic oxygen from the 2Ј-OH or 3Ј-OH group on the 3Ј-terminal tRNA ribose sugar attacks the mixed anhydride interm...