ABSTRACT

The timely reprogramming of gene expression in response to internal and external cues is essential to eukaryote development and acclimation to changing environments. Chemically modifying molecular receptors and transducers of these signals is one way to efficiently induce proper physiological responses. Post-translation modifications, regulating protein biological activities, are central to many well-known signal-responding pathways. Recently, messenger RNA (mRNA) chemical (i.e. epitranscriptomic) modifications were also shown to play a key role in these processes. In contrast, transfer RNA (tRNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) chemical modifications, although critical for optimal function of the translation apparatus, and much more diverse and quantitatively important compared to mRNA modifications, were until recently considered as mainly static chemical decorations. We present here recent observations that are challenging this view and supporting the hypothesis that tRNA and rRNA modifications dynamically respond to various cell and environmental conditions and contribute to adapt translation to these conditions.

摘要

响应内部和外部线索及时重新编程基因表达对于真核生物的发育和适应不断变化的环境至关重要。化学修饰这些信号的分子受体和传感器是有效诱导适当生理反应的一种方法。翻译后修饰，调节蛋白质生物活性，是许多众所周知的信号响应途径的核心。最近，信使 RNA (mRNA) 化学（即外转录组）修饰也显示在这些过程中发挥关键作用。相比之下，转移 RNA (tRNA) 和核糖体 RNA (rRNA) 化学修饰虽然对翻译装置的最佳功能至关重要，并且与 mRNA 修饰相比更加多样化和定量重要，直到最近才被认为主要是静态化学装饰。我们在这里提出最近的观察结果，这些观察结果对这一观点提出了挑战，并支持 tRNA 和 rRNA 修饰动态响应各种细胞和环境条件并有助于使翻译适应这些条件的假设。