Calpain Cleaves Most Components in the Multiple Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetase Complex and Affects Their Functions

Nine aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) and three scaffold proteins form a super multiple aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase complex (MSC) in the human cytoplasm. Domains that have been added progressively to MSC components during evolution are linked by unstructured flexible peptides, producing an elongated and multiarmed MSC structure that is easily attacked by proteases in vivo. A yeast two-hybrid screen for proteins interacting with LeuRS, a representative MSC member, identified calpain 2, a calcium-activated neutral cysteine protease. Calpain 2 and calpain 1 could partially hydrolyze most MSC components to generate specific fragments that resembled those reported previously. The cleavage sites of calpain in ArgRS, GlnRS, and p43 were precisely mapped. After cleavage, their N-terminal regions were removed. Sixty-three amino acid residues were removed from the N terminus of ArgRS to form ArgRSΔN63; GlnRS formed GlnRSΔN198, and p43 formed p43ΔN106. GlnRSΔN198 had a much weaker affinity for its substrates, tRNA(Gln) and glutamine. p43ΔN106 was the same as the previously reported p43-derived apoptosis-released factor. The formation of p43ΔN106 by calpain depended on Ca(2+) and could be specifically inhibited by calpeptin and by RNAi of the regulatory subunit of calpain in vivo. These results showed, for the first time, that calpain plays an essential role in dissociating the MSC and might regulate the canonical and non-canonical functions of certain components of the MSC.