Preferential Import of Queuosine-Modified Trnas Into
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Published online 9 July 2021 Nucleic Acids Research, 2021, Vol. 49, No. 14 8247–8260 https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkab567 Preferential import of queuosine-modified tRNAs into Trypanosoma brucei mitochondrion is critical for organellar protein synthesis Sneha Kulkarni1,2, Mary Anne T. Rubio1,3,EvaHegedusov˝ a´ 1, Robert L. Ross4, Patrick A. Limbach 5, Juan D. Alfonzo3 and Zdenekˇ Paris 1,2,* 1Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceskˇ eBud´ ejovice,ˇ Czech Republic, 2Faculty 3 of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceskˇ eBud´ ejovice,ˇ Czech Republic, Department of Microbiology and The Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/49/14/8247/6318497 by guest on 01 October 2021 Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA, 4Metabolomics Mass Spectrometry Core, Department of Cancer Biology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA and 5Rieveschl Laboratories for Mass Spectrometry, Department of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA Received November 30, 2020; Revised May 28, 2021; Editorial Decision June 13, 2021; Accepted June 21, 2021 ABSTRACT sine (Q), a hypermodified 7-deaza-guanosine, is one of the most chemically intricate modifications described to date. Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are key players in protein syn- Q is found at the wobble position 34 of tRNAs that contain thesis. To be fully active, tRNAs undergo extensive a5-GUN-3 anticodon sequence, where N represents any post-transcriptional modifications, including queuo- of the canonical nucleotides, which includes tRNAHisGUG, sine (Q), a hypermodified 7-deaza-guanosine present tRNAAspGUC, tRNAAsnGUU, tRNATyr GUA (3). Q is in the anticodon of several tRNAs in bacteria and eu- found in both bacteria and eukarya, and catalyzed by tRNA karya. Here, molecular and biochemical approaches guanine transglycosylase (TGT) (4). In bacteria, Q is syn- revealed that in the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma thesized de novo, wherein guanosine is modified by five se- brucei, Q-containing tRNAs have a preference for quential enzymatic reactions to form preQ1, which is then the U-ending codons for asparagine, aspartate, ty- incorporated into tRNAs by the bacterial TGT homodimer rosine and histidine, analogous to what has been (bTGT). PreQ1 is further modified to Q by two enzymatic steps on the tRNA itself (4). A related 7-deaza-guanosine described in other systems. However, since a lack of derivative called archaeosine (G+) is present at position 15 tRNA genes in T. brucei mitochondria makes it essen- on the D-loop of several tRNAs in archaea. Archaeal TGT tial to import a complete set from the cytoplasm, we is a homolog of bacterial TGT and catalyzes the exchange of surprisingly found that Q-modified tRNAs are pref- guanine with preQ0, a precursor common to the biosynthe- erentially imported over their unmodified counter- sis of both G+ and Q (5,6). Eukaryotes lack the enzymes re- parts. In turn, their absence from mitochondria has quired for de novo synthesis of queuosine and hence rely on a pronounced effect on organellar translation and af- nutrient sources and additionally, in the case of mammals, fects function. Although Q modification in T. brucei their gut microbiome. Queuine (q, free base of queuosine) is globally important for codon selection, it is more is recognized by eukaryotic TGT (eTGT), and exchanged so for mitochondrial protein synthesis. These results with guanine on the tRNA (7). In mice and humans, TGT provide a unique example of the combined regula- exists as a heterodimer of queuine tRNA ribosyltransferase 1 (QTRT1), and queuine tRNA ribosyltransferase domain tory effect of codon usage and wobble modifications containing 1 (QTRTD1) (8). on protein synthesis; all driven by tRNA intracellular Because of its position at the wobble base in the anti- transport dynamics. codon, Q may play a role in codon recognition. Morris and co-workers proposed a model where the Q modification INTRODUCTION may influence cellular growth and differentiation by codon- biased regulation of protein synthesis (9). They carried out Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) bear the most extensive diver- an in silico analysis which showed that the NAU/NAC ra- sity of post-transcriptional modifications among all nucleic tio of usage of cognate codons of Q-containing tRNAs, is acids in cells (1). Several complex modifications exist in the much higher in housekeeping genes (>0.81) than in onco- anticodon stem-loop region of tRNAs, which may act to developmental gene transcripts (<0.35) (9), which could ensure accuracy and fidelity during translation (2). Queuo- *To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +420 38 777 5427; Email: [email protected] C The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] 8248 Nucleic Acids Research, 2021, Vol. 49, No. 14 lead to differential protein synthesis in healthy v/s cancer their function, localization and physical interaction. Fur- cells. In Xenopus oocytes, Q-containing tRNAs eliminate ther, we aimed to study the mechanism by which this modifi- the proposed codon preference by efficiently recognizing ei- cation differentially influences translation. We analyzed the ther NAU or NAC codons, whereas the unmodified tRNAs combined effects of differential codon usage, and Q-tRNA preferably recognize NAC (10). In drosophilid lineage, Q levels, on cytosolic translation. Furthermore, as the mito- mediates a shift in codon preference within a genome, dur- chondrion is one of the organelles, which undergoes ma- ing various developmental stages (11,12). Recently, Tuorto jor transformation during the life cycle of Trypanosoma,we et al. showed that Q-containing tRNA levels control trans- studied the role of Q in mitochondrial translation. As ex- lational speed at their cognate and near-cognate codons in pected, queuosine functions in codon-biased translation in humans (13). They also reported that the loss of Q resulted the cytoplasm, but surprisingly Q-tRNAs are preferentially in the induction of the unfolded protein response, in hu- imported into the mitochondria to play a role in translation mans and mice (13). Thus, there is evidence supporting the of U-rich mitochondrial mRNAs. The combined effects of role of queuosine tRNA modification in regulating codon- its role in transport and organellar protein synthesis is crit- Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/49/14/8247/6318497 by guest on 01 October 2021 biased translation, although its impact appears to vary be- ical for mitochondrial function as shown here. tween organisms. The role of tRNA modifications is particularly relevant MATERIALS AND METHODS in medically and economically important trypanosomatid Cell culture, generation of cell lines and q depletion experi- parasites. Trypanosoma brucei is a unicellular dixenous par- ments asite, belonging to the order Kinetoplastida. Its nuclear genome is organized in a unique way, with several unre- Wild type (WT), procyclic T. brucei 29–13 cells (21) lated genes clustered together and transcribed as a poly- were grown in SDM-79 medium (22) supplemented with cistronic unit (14,15). As a result, these parasites lack most 10% fetal bovine serum. RNAi construct was gen- of the transcriptional control found in other organisms, erated by cloning region of the coding sequence of with the bulk of gene expression regulation occurring post- TbTGT1 into the plasmid vector p2T7-177 using following transcriptionally.Additionally, they undergo extensive mor- oligonucleotides: TbTGT1-F: CCCAAGCTTCTAAGA phological and metabolic remodeling, during their life cy- CCAGGGGAAGATATACTTAAT; TbTGT1-R: CGCG cle, which includes switching from glycolysis in the mam- GATCCCGATAGGAGTGTAGCCCCAA. Cloning sites malian host to oxidative phosphorylation inside the in- for HindIII and BamHI are underlined in the sequence. sect vector, continually changing their surface glycoprotein RNAi was induced by the addition of 1 g/ml of tetracy- composition to evade the immune system, etc. (16). These cline to the media, generating dsRNA from head-to-head events demand rapid changes in translation of developmen- orientated T7 promoters (21). tally regulated proteins. In such situations, changes in post- For tagging of the endogenous TbTGT proteins: transcriptional modifications of tRNAs may be essential for TbTGT1 was tagged at the c-terminus, with myc tag the survival or virulence of the parasite, which in the case of using pMOTag 4M vector (with phleoR), as described Q implies two different environments to supply queuine: the (23). TbTGT2 was tagged at the c-terminus, with V5 gut of the insect and the bloodstream of mammals. tag, using a modified pPOTv4 vector (with puroR) (24). Complicating things further is the fact that the mitochon- Primers used for PCR were as following: TGT1myc-F: drial genome of T. brucei does not encode any tRNAs. Con- GAATACGTACAGAAGTTTTTTTTAGGATATTACC sequently, they must import the whole set of tRNAs from CGGCACGGGATTACCCAAAGTGGATTGTTGAT the cytoplasm to be utilized for organellar translation (17). GCACTTGCTTCTGTCAGTGTTGAGCTCCCCCG tRNA modifications present a possible way to regulate im- CCCGCTCGAGATGGAGCAGAAG,