Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases and tRNAs for an Expanded Genetic Code: What Makes them Orthogonal?
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Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
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Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(8), 1929; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20081929
Received: 1 April 2019
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Revised: 16 April 2019
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Accepted: 17 April 2019
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Published: 19 April 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Expanding and Reprogramming the Genetic Code)
In the past two decades, tRNA molecules and their corresponding aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRS) have been extensively used in synthetic biology to genetically encode post-translationally modified and unnatural amino acids. In this review, we briefly examine one fundamental requirement for the successful application of tRNA/aaRS pairs for expanding the genetic code. This requirement is known as “orthogonality”—the ability of a tRNA and its corresponding aaRS to interact exclusively with each other and avoid cross-reactions with additional types of tRNAs and aaRSs in a given organism.
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Keywords:
synthetic biology; expanded genetic code; tRNA; aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases; orthogonal translation systems
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MDPI and ACS Style
Melnikov, S.V.; Söll, D. Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases and tRNAs for an Expanded Genetic Code: What Makes them Orthogonal? Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20, 1929. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20081929
AMA Style
Melnikov SV, Söll D. Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases and tRNAs for an Expanded Genetic Code: What Makes them Orthogonal? International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2019; 20(8):1929. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20081929
Chicago/Turabian StyleMelnikov, Sergey V., and Dieter Söll. 2019. "Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases and tRNAs for an Expanded Genetic Code: What Makes them Orthogonal?" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 20, no. 8: 1929. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20081929
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