tRNA modifications in evolution, metazoan physiology, and human disease.

Speaker: Lluis Ribas de Pouplana

Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) [Barcelona, España]

Host: Mercedes Dosil

Fecha: 11/01/2018

Hora: 12:00

Salón de Actos del Centro de Investigación del Cáncer

One of the least understood aspects of the structure and biology of transfer RNAs is the roles of the numerous base modifications that tRNAs accumulate thanks to the action of a long list of tRNA modification enzymes, mutations in many of which lead to human disease. I will review the roles that modifications in tRNA anticodons play in the regulation of eukaryotic protein synthesis and, more specifically, our results on the evolution, function, and role in human disease of the enzyme Adenosine Deaminase Acting on Transfer RNA (ADAT).

ADAT was an important factor in the evolution of genome structure, codon composition, and tRNA gene content in eukaryotic organisms [1, 2]. I will show that the function of ADAT is particularly relevant in the translation of specific transcripts coding for proteins enriched in ADAT-related amino acids [3, 4], which turn out to be abundant in the extracellular matrix of metazoans.

1. Novoa, E.M., Pavon-Eternod, M., Pan, T., and Ribas de Pouplana, L. (2012) A Role for tRNA Modifications in Genome Structure and Codon Usage. Cell. 149(1):202-13.
2. Novoa EM, Ribas de Pouplana L. (2012) Speeding with control: codon usage, tRNAs, and ribosomes. Trends Genet. 28(11):574-81.
3. Rafels-Ybern A, Stephan-Otto Attolini C and Ribas de Pouplana L (2015) Distribution of ADAT-dependent codons in the human transcriptome. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 16(8):17303-14.
4. Rafels-Ybern À, Torres AG, Grau-Bove X, Ruiz-Trillo I, Ribas de Pouplana L. (2017) Codon adaptation to tRNAs with Inosine modification at position 34 is widespread among Eukaryotes and present in two Bacterial phyla. RNA Biol. doi: 10.1080/15476286.2017.