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Updated: Dec 15, 2025

Nanomanipulation of Single RNA Molecules by Optical Tweezers
Published on: August 20, 2014
Aminoacylation of short hairpin RNAs through kissing-loop interactions indicates evolutionary trend of RNA molecules
Hiromi Mutsuro-Aoki1, Kokoro Hamachi1, Ryodai Kurihara1
1Department of Biological Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 6-3-1 Niijuku, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo 125-8585, Japan.
Abstract:
The unique G3:U70 base pair in the acceptor stem of tRNAAla has been shown to be a critical recognition site by alanyl-tRNA synthetase (AlaRS). The base pair resides on one of the arms of the L-shaped structure of tRNA (minihelix) and the genetic code has likely evolved from a primordial tRNA-aaRS (aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase) system. In terms of the evolution of tRNA, incorporation of a G:U base pair in the structure would be important. Here, we found that two independent short hairpin RNAs change their conformation through kissing-loop interactions, finally forming a minihelix-like structure, in which the G3:U70 base pair is incorporated. The RNA system can be properly aminoacylated by the minimal Escherichia coli AlaRS variant with alanylation activity (AlaRS442N). Thus, characteristic structural features produced via kissing-loop interactions may provide important clues into the evolution of RNA.
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