Molecular trigger for pre-transfer editing pathway in Valyl-tRNA synthetase: a molecular dynamics simulation study

Pre-transfer editing pathway in Valyl-tRNA synthetase (ValRS) is a very important process to maintain the high fidelity of protein synthesis. However, molecular basis for this pathway remains unclear. Here we employed molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to study two complexes, ValRS·tRNA(val)·Val-AMP (complex V) and ValRS·tRNA(val)·Thr-AMP (complex T), and compared their simulation trajectories, in order to understand how the pre-transfer editing pathway is triggered by the noncognate substrate Thr-AMP. The MD simulations showed that the binding of Thr-AMP to ValRS led to different motions from those in complex V: clockwise rotation of the editing domain along the hinge region, and strong motions in the catalytic domain, especially in KMSKS loop. We found that the changed motion of Trp495 induced by Thr-AMP serves as a signal to discriminate Thr-AMP from Val-AMP, and the rigid (491)ILFL(494) segment then propagates this signal from Trp495 to Asp490 and induces dissociation of the salt-bridge Asp490-Arg346 and formation of the salt-bridge Glu189-Lys533. The change in salt-bridges alters the motion of KMSKS loop and the editing domain, and eventually triggers the pre-transfer editing pathway. This study provides a model for the molecular trigger of the pre-transfer editing pathway in ValRS, and is useful for further exploring this process.