Protein Domain : Tryptophan-tRNA ligase IPR002306

Type	Family
Description	This entry represents tryptophan-tRNA ligase (TrpRS; also known as tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase) ( ). The enzyme is widely distributed, being found in archaea, bacteria and eukaryotes. TrpRS is a homodimer which attaches Tyr to the appropriate tRNA. TrpRS is a class I tRNA synthetase, so it aminoacylates the 2'-OH of the nucleotide at the 3' end of the tRNA. The core domain is based on the Rossman fold and is responsible for the ATP-dependent formation of the enzyme bound aminoacyl-adenylate. It contains class I characteristic 'HIGH' and 'KMSKS' motifs, which are involved in ATP binding [ ].The class Ia aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases consist of the isoleucyl, methionyl, valyl, leucyl, cysteinyl, and arginyl-tRNA synthetases; the class Ib include the glutamyl and glutaminyl-tRNA synthetases, and the class Ic are the tyrosyl and tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetases [ ].The aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (also known as aminoacyl-tRNA ligases) catalyse the attachment of an amino acid to its cognate transfer RNA molecule in a highly specific two-step reaction [ , ]. These proteins differ widely in size and oligomeric state, and have limited sequence homology []. The 20 aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are divided into two classes, I and II. Class I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases contain a characteristic Rossman fold catalytic domain and are mostly monomeric []. Class II aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases share an anti-parallel β-sheet fold flanked by α-helices [], and are mostly dimeric or multimeric, containing at least three conserved regions [, , ]. However, tRNA binding involves an α-helical structure that is conserved between class I and class II synthetases. In reactions catalysed by the class I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, the aminoacyl group is coupled to the 2'-hydroxyl of the tRNA, while, in class II reactions, the 3'-hydroxyl site is preferred. The synthetases specific for arginine, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, tyrosine, tryptophan, valine, and some lysine synthetases (non-eukaryotic group) belong to class I synthetases. The synthetases specific for alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, glycine, histidine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, and some lysine synthetases (non-archaeal group), belong to class-II synthetases. Based on their mode of binding to the tRNA acceptor stem, both classes of tRNA synthetases have been subdivided into three subclasses, designated 1a, 1b, 1c and 2a, 2b, 2c [].
Short Name	Trp-tRNA-ligase