Thermodynamic Characterization of ppGpp Binding to EF-G or 1F2 and of Initiator tRNA Binding to Free 1F2 in the Presence of GDP, GTP, or ppGpp

• In addition to their natural substrates GDP and GTP, the bacterial translational GTPases initiation factor (IF) 2 and elongation factor G (EF-G) interact with the alarmone molecule guanosine tetraphosphate (ppGpp), which leads to GTPase inhibition. We have used isothermal titration calorimetry to determine the affinities of ppGpp for IF2 and EF-G at a temperature interval of 5-25 degrees C. We find that ppGpp has a higher affinity for IF2 than for EF-G (1.7-2.8 Q mu M K-d versus 9.1-13.9 mu M K-d at 10-25 degrees C), suggesting that during stringent response in vivo, IF2 is more responsive to ppGpp than to EF-G. We investigated the effects of ppGpp, GDP, and GTP on IF2 interactions with fMet-tRNA(fMet) demonstrating that IF2 binds to initiator tRNA with submicromolar K-d and that affinity is altered by the G nucleotides only slightly. This-in conjunction with earlier reports on IF2 interactions with fMet-tRNA(fMet) in the context of the 30S initiation complex, where ppGpp was suggested to strongly inhibit fMet-tRNA(fMet) binding and GTP was suggested to strongly promote fMet-tRNA(fMet) binding-sheds new light on the mechanisms of the G-nucleotide-regulated fMet-tRNA(fMet) selection.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Biokemi och molekylärbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

IF2

EF-G

PPGPP

initiator tRNA

ITC

Molecular biology

Molekylärbiologi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)