The catalytic mechanism of peptide bond formation on the ribosome is not known. The crystal structure of 50S ribosomal subunits shows that the catalytic center consists of RNA only and suggests potential catalytic residues. Here we report rapid kinetics of the peptidyl transferase reaction with puromycin at rates up to 50 s(-1). The rate-pH profile of the reaction reveals that protonation of a ...

Peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase (Pth) catalyzes the release of tRNA to relieve peptidyl-tRNA accumulation. Because Pth activity is essential for the viability of bacteria, Pth is regarded as a promising target for the discovery of new antimicrobial agents. Here, the structure of Pth from the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (SaPth) was solved by X-ray crystallography at a 2.25 Å resolution...

The effect of antibiotics and other agents on-peptide bond synthesis by mammalian polyribosomes was determined by studying peptidyl-puromycin synthesis. Sparsomycin, anisomycin, cycloheximide, gougerotin, blasticidin S, and cryptopleurine inhibited the reaction. Sparsomycin and anisomytin inhibited the peptidyl-puromycin synthesis competitively with respect to puromycin. Arabinose analogs of pu...

We studied the role of mitochondrial cyclophilin 20 (CyP20), a peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase, in preprotein translocation across the mitochondrial membranes and protein folding inside the organelle. The inhibitory drug cyclosporin A did not impair membrane translocation of preproteins, but it delayed the folding of an imported protein in wild-type mitochondria. Similarly, Neurospora crass...

Cancer is characterized by somatic mutations that provide a growth and survival advantage. The mutations are a function of chance because of the random nature of mutagenesis. However, the biology in the tumor cells drives the selection of mutations that are advantageous to the cancer. 1 in addition, the tumor environment exerts a selective pressure on the tumor. For example, the hypoxic environ...

Crystal structures of the Haloarcula marismortui large ribosomal subunit complexed with the 16-membered macrolide antibiotics carbomycin A, spiramycin, and tylosin and a 15-membered macrolide, azithromycin, show that they bind in the polypeptide exit tunnel adjacent to the peptidyl transferase center. Their location suggests that they inhibit protein synthesis by blocking the egress of nascent ...

The mechanism of protein synthesis is still unknown due to inability to detect the so-called enzyme "peptidyl transferase" even after elucidation of high-resolution crystal structure of ribosome. We have recently shown by model building and semi-empirical energy calculation that the tRNA molecule at P-site of ribosome may act as peptidyl transferase (Das et al. (1999) J. Theor. Biol. 200, 193-2...

Amidine-type peptide bond isosteres were designed based on the substitution of the peptide bond carbonyl (C=O) group with an imino (C=NH) group. The positively-charged property of the isosteric part resembles a reduced amide-type peptidomimetic. The peptidyl amidine units were synthesized by the reduction of a key amidoxime (N-hydroxyamidine) precursor, which was prepared from nitrile oxide com...

Recent all-atom crystal structures of 70S ribosome functional complexes provide a detailed description of how the ribosome interacts with its mRNA and tRNA substrates. The structures support the view that the fundamental steps of translation are based on RNA-RNA interactions, which in some cases underwent further refinement as a result of having recruited proteins. The structural basis of the d...

Osteogenesis imperfecta is a heritable disorder that causes bone fragility. Mutations in type I collagen result in autosomal dominant osteogenesis imperfecta, whereas mutations in either of two components of the collagen prolyl 3-hydroxylation complex (cartilage-associated protein [CRTAP] and prolyl 3-hydroxylase 1 [P3H1]) cause autosomal recessive osteogenesis imperfecta with rhizomelia (short...