Reversible and Rapid Transfer-RNA Deactivation as a Mechanism of Translational Repression in Stress

Stress-induced changes of gene expression are crucial for survival of eukaryotic cells. Regulation at the level of translation provides the necessary plasticity for immediate changes of cellular activities and protein levels. In this study, we demonstrate that exposure to oxidative stress results in a quick repression of translation by deactivation of the aminoacyl-ends of all transfer-RNA (tRNA). An oxidative-stress activated nuclease, angiogenin, cleaves first within the conserved single-stranded 3′-CCA termini of all tRNAs, thereby blocking their use in translation. This CCA deactivation is reversible and quickly repairable by the CCA-adding enzyme [ATP(CTP):tRNA nucleotidyltransferase]. Through this mechanism the eukaryotic cell dynamically represses and reactivates translation at low metabolic costs.
Author Summary Adequate reprogramming of metabolic activities by environmental stress or suboptimal growth conditions is crucial for cell survival. Cells employ a remarkable diversity of processes to maintain its homeostasis at all levels of gene expression, including chromatin remodeling, mRNA expression and degradation, translation and protein degradation. Each of these processes shapes cell response at different time scales. In this study, we analyzed the cellular response to oxidative stress at the level of translation. Translation, as one of the most downstream processes in gene expression, provides the necessary plasticity for immediate changes of cellular activities. Using high-sensitive approaches to probe the structural integrity of cellular tRNAs, we show that upon exposure to oxidative stress tRNAs are rapidly deactivated by a cleavage within their ubiquitous, single-stranded 3′-CCA termini by oxidative stress-activated nuclease, angiogenin. The CCA-ends deactivation is reversible and quickly repairable by a ubiquitous enzyme, CCA-adding enzyme, whose natural function is to attach post-transcriptionally the CCA overhang to the 3′-termini of all tRNAs in an mRNA template-independent manner. We propose that this is a mechanism to dynamically repress and reactivate translation at low metabolic costs.