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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Mitochondrial Transformation in Baker's Yeast to Study Translation and Respiratory Complex Assembly
Published on: June 7, 2024
Viral hijacking of mitochondrial lysyl-tRNA synthetase
Monika Kaminska1, Vyacheslav Shalak, Mathilde Francin
1Laboratoire d'Enzymologie et Biochimie Structurales, CNRS, 1 Avenue de la Terrasse, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
Abstract:
The primer for reverse transcription of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genome is tRNA3(Lys). During assembly of HIV-1 particles, tRNA3(Lys) is taken up from the host cell along with lysyl-tRNA synthetase (LysRS), the tRNA binding protein that specifically aminoacylates the different tRNA(Lys) isoacceptors. In humans, the cytoplasmic and mitochondrial species of LysRS are encoded by a single gene by means of alternative splicing. Here, we show that polyclonal antibodies directed to the full-length cytoplasmic enzyme equally recognized the two enzyme species. We raised antibodies against synthetic peptides that allowed discrimination between the two enzymes and found that mitochondrial LysRS is the only cellular source of LysRS detected in the virions. These results open new routes for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the specific packaging of tRNA3(Lys) into viral particles.
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