Scientists Show Protein-Making Machinery Can Switch Gears with a Small Structural Change Process, which may have implications for immunity and cancer therapy, compared to the movie The Transformers
November 15, 2012
JUPITER, FL, November 15, 2012 For the past several years, Min Guo, an assistant professor at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has focused on the intricate actions of an ancient family of catalytic enzymes that play a key role in translation, the process of producing proteins.
These complex enzymes are a group of fundamental molecules that make building blocks for protein production. Present in every cell, these enzymes known as aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetases (tRNA synthetases) select the proper amino acids and assign them to transfer RNAs to make a protein in the ribosome. As an essential step of determining the genetic code, tRNA synthetases have been around for billions of years.
However, this essential part of the protein-making machine did not stop evolving. Now, in a new study published online ahead of print on November 15, 2012, by the journal Molecular Cell, Guo, Ehud Razin of The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, and a large team of international scientists have shown that this enzyme can actually also work in another fundamental process in humans. In this case, the enzyme activates a process that creates a copy of RNA from DNA transcription, which is the first step leading to gene expression. All this takes is a single chemical alteration (phosphorylation) at a specific site on the enzyme, which then triggers a cascade of structure changes, freeing the enzyme from translation to another role that is, regulating transcription.
If you think about the structural changes that occur in the synthetase we looked at in the study, it's very much like the movie Transformers, Guo said. It's a machine that changes structure and turns into another machine that can accomplish a completely different task like from a car to a giant robot. This is the first time anyone has been able to show how you can change the function of this enzyme from a mechanistic perspective, to know exactly how that works.
This newly discovered ability has large implications for our understanding of immune response, including allergies and cancer, Guo said.
He notes the unusual transformation of tRNA synthetases was initially discovered in mast cells, which are the body's first line of defense against pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. To recognize pathogens and other signs of infection, mast cells are dispersed throughout most tissues, but are crucially located at the body's interfaces with the environment, such as the skin and mucosae. Activation of mast cells is a key step in initiating allergies, in which activated mast cells secrete preformed mediators, such as histamine, and synthesize new mediators that augment the allergic response. It turns out that mast cells mobilize the tRNA synthetases to participate in transcriptional regulation and carry along this entire signal cascade within minutes.
This shows how a housekeeping machine can be reshaped for a regulatory response, Guo said, something that is only now starting to get noticed.
Recent research has also shown that the transformed synthetase in the new study also increases metastasis in breast cancer cells.
By designing a way to prevent this synthetase transformation, you could potentially limit metastasis, Guo said. But you have to know the mechanism before you can design something to alter it. This new study gives us a basic framework that shows how this transformation works.
The first authors of the study, Structural Switch of Lysyl-tRNA Synthetase between Translation and Transcription, are Yifat Ofir-Birin of The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada and Pengfei Fang of TSRI. In addition to Guo, Razin, Ofir-Birin and Fang, other authors include Steven P. Bennett, Jing Wang, Ryan Shapiro, Jorge Pozo, Paul Schimmel and Xiang-Lei Yang of TSRI (Sharpiro and Schimmel are also affilitated with the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at TSRI); Inbal Rachmin, Jing Song and Arie Dagan of The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada; Hui-Min Zhang and Alan G. Marshall of Florida State University; Sunghoon Kim of Seoul National University; and Hovav Nechushtan of the Hadassah Medical Center, Israel.
This study required teamwork, as it spanned the boundaries of different biological fields, including cell biology, structural biology, immunity and cancer, Guo said. This and future work is made possible by the close collaborations among scientists around the world.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant numbers GM088278; GM23562; GM78359; and GM100136); National Science Foundation Division of Materials Research; the National Foundation for Cancer Research; the Global Frontier Project and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Korea; the Israel Science Foundation; the United States Binational Science Foundation; the National Research Foundation of Singapore; the German-Israel Foundation for Scientific Research and Development; the Cooperation Program in Cancer Research of the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum; the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology; the State of Florida; and the U. S. Department of Energy.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
Scientists Show Protein-Making Machinery Can Switch Gears with a Small Structural Change Process, which may have implications for immunity and cancer therapy, compared to the movie The Transformers
