540 Chemie und zugeordnete Wissenschaften
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- Crystal structure of MTR1 (1)
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- METTL8 (1)
- Methyltransferase Ribozyme MTR1 (1)
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- RNA-catalyzed RNA methylation (1)
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- Center for Nanosystems Chemistry (CNC), University of Würzburg (1)
- Cluster of Excellence "Multiscale Bioimaging: from Molecular Machines to Networks of Excitable Cells, Göttingen (1)
- Department of Cellular Biochemistry, University Medical Centre Göttingen (1)
- Department of Molecular Biology, University Medical Centre Göttingen (1)
- Göttingen Center for Molecular Biosciences, University of Göttingen (1)
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- 682586 (2)
RNA-catalysed RNA methylation was recently shown to be part of the catalytic repertoire of ribozymes. The methyltransferase ribozyme MTR1 catalyses the site-specific synthesis of 1-methyladenosine (m\(^1\)A) in RNA, using O\(^6\)-methylguanine (m\(^6\)G) as methyl group donor. Here we report the crystal structure of MTR1 at a resolution of 2.8 Å, which reveals a guanine binding site reminiscent of natural guanine riboswitches. The structure represents the postcatalytic state of a split ribozyme in complex with the m1A-containing RNA product and the demethylated cofactor guanine. The structural data suggest the mechanistic involvement of a protonated cytidine in the methyl transfer reaction. A synergistic effect of two 2'-O-methylated ribose residues in the active site results in accelerated methyl group transfer. Supported by these results, it seems plausible that modified nucleotides may have enhanced early RNA catalysis and that metabolite-binding riboswitches may resemble inactivated ribozymes that have lost their catalytic activity during evolution.
Modified nucleotides in tRNAs are important determinants of folding, structure and function. Here we identify METTL8 as a mitochondrial matrix protein and active RNA methyltransferase responsible for installing m\(^3\)C\(_{32}\) in the human mitochondrial (mt-)tRNA\(^{Thr}\) and mt-tRNA\(^{Ser(UCN)}\). METTL8 crosslinks to the anticodon stem loop (ASL) of many mt-tRNAs in cells, raising the question of how methylation target specificity is achieved. Dissection of mttRNA recognition elements revealed U\(_{34}\)G\(_{35}\) and t\(^6\)A\(_{37}\)/(ms\(^2\))i\(^6\)A\(_{37}\), present concomitantly only in the ASLs of the two substrate mt-tRNAs, as key determinants for METTL8-mediated methylation of C\(_{32}\). Several lines of evidence demonstrate the influence of U\(_{34}\), G\(_{35}\), and the m\(^3\)C\(_{32}\) and t\(^6\)A\(_{37}\)/(ms\(^2\))i\(^6\)A\(_{37}\) modifications in mt-tRNA\(^{Thr/Ser(UCN)}\) on the structure of these mt-tRNAs. Although mt-tRNA\(^{Thr/Ser(UCN)}\) lacking METTL8-mediated m\(^3\)C\(_{32}\) are efficiently aminoacylated and associate with mitochondrial ribosomes, mitochondrial translation is mildly impaired by lack of METTL8. Together these results define the cellular targets of METTL8 and shed new light on the role of m\(^3\)C\(_{32}\) within mt-tRNAs.