Cryo-EM structure of the fully assembled Elongator complex.

Transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules are essential to decode messenger RNA codons during protein synthesis. All known tRNAs are heavily modified at multiple positions through post-transcriptional addition of chemical groups. Modifications in the tRNA anticodons are directly influencing ribosome decoding and dynamics during translation elongation and are crucial for maintaining proteome integrity. In eukaryotes, wobble uridines are modified by Elongator, a large and highly conserved macromolecular complex. Elongator consists of two subcomplexes, namely Elp123 containing the enzymatically active Elp3 subunit and the associated Elp456 hetero-hexamer. The structure of the fully assembled complex and the function of the Elp456 subcomplex have remained elusive. Here, we show the cryo-electron microscopy structure of yeast Elongator at an overall resolution of 4.3 Å. We validate the obtained structure by complementary mutational analyses in vitro and in vivo. In addition, we determined various structures of the murine Elongator complex, including the fully assembled mouse Elongator complex at 5.9 Å resolution. Our results confirm the structural conservation of Elongator and its intermediates among eukaryotes. Furthermore, we complement our analyses with the biochemical characterization of the assembled human Elongator. Our results provide the molecular basis for the assembly of Elongator and its tRNA modification activity in eukaryotes.

The multi-subunit Elongator complex mediates the addition of a carboxymethyl group to wobble uridines in eukaryotic tRNAs. This tRNA modification is crucial to preserve the integrity of cellular proteomes and to protects us against severe neurodegenerative diseases. Elongator is organized in two distinct modules (i) the larger Elp123 subcomplex that binds and modifies the suitable tRNA substrate and (ii) the smaller Elp456 subcomplex that assists the release of the modified tRNA. The presented cryo-EM structures of Elongator show that the assemblies are very dynamic and undergo conformational rearrangements at consecutive steps of the process. Last but not least, the study provides a detailed reaction scheme and shows that the architecture of Elongator is highly conserved from yeast to mammals.

The diverse structural modes of tRNA binding and recognition.

tRNAs are short noncoding RNAs responsible for decoding mRNA codon triplets, delivering correct amino acids to the ribosome, and mediating polypeptide chain formation. Due to their key roles during translation, tRNAs have a highly conserved shape and large sets of tRNAs are present in all living organisms. Regardless of sequence variability, all tRNAs fold into a relatively rigid three-dimensional L-shaped structure. The conserved tertiary organization of canonical tRNA arises through the formation of two orthogonal helices, consisting of the acceptor and anticodon domains. Both elements fold independently to stabilize the overall structure of tRNAs through intramolecular interactions between the D- and T-arm. During tRNA maturation, different modifying enzymes posttranscriptionally attach chemical groups to specific nucleotides, which not only affect translation elongation rates but also restrict local folding processes and confer local flexibility when required. The characteristic structural features of tRNAs are also employed by various maturation factors and modification enzymes to assure the selection, recognition, and positioning of specific sites within the substrate tRNAs. The cellular functional repertoire of tRNAs continues to extend well beyond their role in translation, partly, due to the expanding pool of tRNA-derived fragments. Here, we aim to summarize the most recent developments in the field to understand how three-dimensional structure affects the canonical and noncanonical functions of tRNA.

Kti12, a PSTK-like tRNA dependent ATPase essential for tRNA modification by Elongator.

Posttranscriptional RNA modifications occur in all domains of life. Modifications of anticodon bases are of particular importance for ribosomal decoding and proteome homeostasis. The Elongator complex modifies uridines in the wobble position and is highly conserved in eukaryotes. Despite recent insights into Elongator's architecture, the structure and function of its regulatory factor Kti12 have remained elusive. Here, we present the crystal structure of Kti12's nucleotide hydrolase domain trapped in a transition state of ATP hydrolysis. The structure reveals striking similarities to an O-phosphoseryl-tRNA kinase involved in the selenocysteine pathway. Both proteins employ similar mechanisms of tRNA binding and show tRNASec-dependent ATPase activity. In addition, we demonstrate that Kti12 binds directly to Elongator and that ATP hydrolysis is crucial for Elongator to maintain proper tRNA anticodon modification levels in vivo. In summary, our data reveal a hitherto uncharacterized link between two translational control pathways that regulate selenocysteine incorporation and affect ribosomal tRNA selection via specific tRNA modifications.

Phosphorylation of Elp1 by Hrr25 is required for elongator-dependent tRNA modification in yeast.

Elongator is a conserved protein complex comprising six different polypeptides that has been ascribed a wide range of functions, but which is now known to be required for modification of uridine residues in the wobble position of a subset of tRNAs in yeast, plants, worms and mammals. In previous work, we showed that Elongator's largest subunit (Elp1; also known as Iki3) was phosphorylated and implicated the yeast casein kinase I Hrr25 in Elongator function. Here we report identification of nine in vivo phosphorylation sites within Elp1 and show that four of these, clustered close to the Elp1 C-terminus and adjacent to a region that binds tRNA, are important for Elongator's tRNA modification function. Hrr25 protein kinase directly modifies Elp1 on two sites (Ser-1198 and Ser-1202) and through analyzing non-phosphorylatable (alanine) and acidic, phosphomimic substitutions at Ser-1198, Ser-1202 and Ser-1209, we provide evidence that phosphorylation plays a positive role in the tRNA modification function of Elongator and may regulate the interaction of Elongator both with its accessory protein Kti12 and with Hrr25 kinase.

Cryo-EM structures of the human Elongator complex at work.

tRNA modifications affect ribosomal elongation speed and co-translational folding dynamics. The Elongator complex is responsible for introducing 5-carboxymethyl at wobble uridine bases (cm5U34) in eukaryotic tRNAs. However, the structure and function of human Elongator remain poorly understood. In this study, we present a series of cryo-EM structures of human ELP123 in complex with tRNA and cofactors at four different stages of the reaction. The structures at resolutions of up to 2.9 Å together with complementary functional analyses reveal the molecular mechanism of the modification reaction. Our results show that tRNA binding exposes a universally conserved uridine at position 33 (U33), which triggers acetyl-CoA hydrolysis. We identify a series of conserved residues that are crucial for the radical-based acetylation of U34 and profile the molecular effects of patient-derived mutations. Together, we provide the high-resolution view of human Elongator and reveal its detailed mechanism of action.

Roles of Elongator Dependent tRNA Modification Pathways in Neurodegeneration and Cancer.

Transfer RNA (tRNA) is subject to a multitude of posttranscriptional modifications which can profoundly impact its functionality as the essential adaptor molecule in messenger RNA (mRNA) translation. Therefore, dynamic regulation of tRNA modification in response to environmental changes can tune the efficiency of gene expression in concert with the emerging epitranscriptomic mRNA regulators. Several of the tRNA modifications are required to prevent human diseases and are particularly important for proper development and generation of neurons. In addition to the positive role of different tRNA modifications in prevention of neurodegeneration, certain cancer types upregulate tRNA modification genes to sustain cancer cell gene expression and metastasis. Multiple associations of defects in genes encoding subunits of the tRNA modifier complex Elongator with human disease highlight the importance of proper anticodon wobble uridine modifications (xm5U34) for health. Elongator functionality requires communication with accessory proteins and dynamic phosphorylation, providing regulatory control of its function. Here, we summarized recent insights into molecular functions of the complex and the role of Elongator dependent tRNA modification in human disease.

Use of a Yeast tRNase Killer Toxin to Diagnose Kti12 Motifs Required for tRNA Modification by Elongator.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells are killed by zymocin, a tRNase ribotoxin complex from Kluyveromyces lactis, which cleaves anticodons and inhibits protein synthesis. Zymocin's action requires specific chemical modification of uridine bases in the anticodon wobble position (U34) by the Elongator complex (Elp1-Elp6). Hence, loss of anticodon modification in mutants lacking Elongator or related KTI (K. lactis Toxin Insensitive) genes protects against tRNA cleavage and confers resistance to the toxin. Here, we show that zymocin can be used as a tool to genetically analyse KTI12, a gene previously shown to code for an Elongator partner protein. From a kti12 mutant pool of zymocin survivors, we identify motifs in Kti12 that are functionally directly coupled to Elongator activity. In addition, shared requirement of U34 modifications for nonsense and missense tRNA suppression (SUP4; SOE1) strongly suggests that Kti12 and Elongator cooperate to assure proper tRNA functioning. We show that the Kti12 motifs are conserved in plant ortholog DRL1/ELO4 from Arabidopsis thaliana and seem to be involved in binding of cofactors (e.g., nucleotides, calmodulin). Elongator interaction defects triggered by mutations in these motifs correlate with phenotypes typical for loss of U34 modification. Thus, tRNA modification by Elongator appears to require physical contact with Kti12, and our preliminary data suggest that metabolic signals may affect proper communication between them.

Comparative analysis of the conserved functions of Arabidopsis DRL1 and yeast KTI12.

Patterning of the polar axis during the early leaf developmental stage is established by cell-to-cell communication between the shoot apical meristem (SAM) and the leaf primordia. In a previous study, we showed that the DRL1 gene, which encodes a homolog of the Elongator-associated protein KTI12 of yeast, acts as a positive regulator of adaxial leaf patterning and shoot meristem activity. To determine the evolutionally conserved functions of DRL1, we performed a comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of DRL1 and its yeast homolog, KTI12, and found that while overall homology was low, well-conserved domains were presented. DRL1 contained two conserved plant-specific domains. Expression of the DRL1 gene in a yeast KTI12-deficient yeast mutant suppressed the growth retardation phenotype, but did not rescue the caffeine sensitivity, indicating that the role of Arabidopsis Elongator-associated protein is partially conserved with yeast KTI12, but may have changed between yeast and plants in response to caffeine during the course of evolution. In addition, elevated expression of DRL1 gene triggered zymocin sensitivity, while overexpression of KTI12 maintained zymocin resistance, indicating that the function of Arabidopsis DRL1 may not overlap with yeast KTI12 with regards to toxin sensitivity. In this study, expression analysis showed that class-I KNOX genes were downregulated in the shoot apex, and that YAB and KAN were upregulated in leaves of the Arabidopsis drl1-101 mutant. Our results provide insight into the communication network between the SAM and leaf primordia required for the establishment of leaf polarity by mediating histone acetylation or through other mechanisms.