Effects of mutagenesis of residue 221 on the properties of bacterial and mitochondrial elongation factor EF-Tu

Abstract

During protein biosynthesis, elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) delivers aminoacyl-tRNA (aa-tRNA) to the A-site of ribosomes. This factor is highly conserved throughout evolution. However, several key residues differ between bacterial and mammalian mitochondrial EF-Tu (EF-Tu mt). One such residue is Ser221 ( Escherichia coli numbering). This residue is conserved as a Ser or Thr in the bacterial factors but is present as Pro269 in EF-Tu mt. Pro269 reorients the loop containing this residue and shifts the adjoining β-strand in EF-Tu mt compared to that of E. coli EF-Tu potentially altering the binding pocket for the acceptor stem of the aa-tRNA. Pro269 was mutated to a serine residue (P269S) in EF-Tu mt. For comparison, the complementary mutation was created at Ser221 in E. coli EF-Tu (S221P). The E. coli EF-Tu S221P variant is poorly expressed in E. coli and the majority of the molecules fail to fold into an active conformation. In contrast, EF-Tu mt P269S is expressed to a high level in E. coli. When corrected for the percentage of active molecules, both variants function as effectively as their respective wild-type factors in ternary complex formation using E. coli Phe-tRNA Phe and Cys-tRNA Cys. They are also active in A-site binding and in vitro translation assays with E. coli Phe-tRNA Phe. In addition, both variants are as active as their respective wild-type factors in ternary complex formation, A-site binding and in vitro translation assays using mitochondrial Phe-tRNA Phe.