Publications by authors named "Xiao Long Zhou"

Escherichia coli MnmE and MnmG form a complex (EcMnmEG), generating transfer RNA (tRNA) 5-carboxymethylaminomethyluridine (cmnm5U) modification. Both cmnm5U and equivalent 5-taurinomethyluridine (τm5U, catalyzed by homologous GTPBP3 and MTO1) are found at U34 in several human mitochondrial tRNAs (hmtRNAs). Certain mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations, including m.

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The generation of cold molecules is an important topic in the field of cold atoms and molecules and has received relevant advanced research attention in ultracold chemistry, quantum computation, and quantum metrology. With a high atomic phase space density, optical dipole traps have been widely used to prepare, trap, and study cold molecules. In this work, Rb2 molecules were photoassociated in a magneto-optical trap to obtain a precise rovibrational spectrum, which provided accurate numerical references for the realization of multiple frequency photoassociation.

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Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) play central roles in protein biosynthesis. Post-transcriptional RNA modifications affect tRNA function and stability. Among these modifications, RNA editing is a widespread RNA modification in three domains of life.

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Translational fidelity relies critically on correct aminoacyl-tRNA supply. The trans-editing factor AlaX predominantly hydrolyzes Ser-tRNAAla, functioning as a third sieve of alanyl-tRNA synthetase (AlaRS). Despite extensive studies in bacteria and archaea, the mechanism of trans-editing in mammals remains largely unknown.

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RNA acetylation is a universal post-transcriptional modification that occurs in various RNAs. Transfer RNA (tRNA) acetylation is found at position 34 (ac4C34) in bacterial tRNAMet and position 12 (ac4C12) in eukaryotic tRNASer and tRNALeu. The biochemical mechanism, structural basis and functional significance of ac4C34 are well understood; however, despite being discovered in the 1960s and identification of Kre33/NAT10 and Tan1/THUMPD1 as modifying apparatuses, ac4C12 modification activity has never been reconstituted for nearly six decades.

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Mitochondria play multiple critical roles in cellular activity. In particular, mitochondrial translation is pivotal in the regulation of mitochondrial and cellular homeostasis. In this forum article, we discuss human mitochondrial tRNA metabolism and highlight its tight connection with various mitochondrial diseases caused by mutations in aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, tRNAs, and tRNA-modifying enzymes.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates the function of the t6A37 modification in mitochondrial tRNAs by knocking out the OSGEPL1 enzyme in HEK293T cells, finding that it is not essential for cell survival but affects mitochondrial translation efficiency.
  • - Deletion of OSGEPL1 led to decreased aminoacylation of specific mitochondrial tRNAs and increased errors in protein synthesis, resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction and activation of the unfolded protein response.
  • - Although mice lacking Osgepl1 exhibited mitochondrial translation issues, they showed no significant physiological deficits in heart tissue, suggesting a complex role for t6A37 in maintaining mitochondrial function and translation fidelity.
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Background: (tobacco caterpillar, ) is a pest of great economic importance due to being a polyphagous and world-distributed agricultural pest. However, agricultural practices involving chemical pesticides have caused resistance, resurgence, and residue problems, highlighting the need for new, environmentally friendly methods to control the spread of .

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the gut poisoning of grayanotoxin I, an active compound found in , on , and to explore the underlying mechanisms of these effects.

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  • Scientists found that when cells lack amino acids, a process happens that causes a protein called mTOR to get a special tag (ubiquitination), which stops it from doing its job.
  • This happens because without enough amino acids, a type of molecule called tRNAs build up, which signals another protein called GCN2 to interact with mTOR.
  • Their research shows a new way that cells can sense whether they have enough amino acids through a specific pathway involving GCN2 and another protein, FBXO22.
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The precise coupling of tRNAs with their cognate amino acids, known as tRNA aminoacylation, is a stringently regulated process that governs translation fidelity. To ensure fidelity, organisms deploy multiple layers of editing mechanisms to correct mischarged tRNAs. Prior investigations have unveiled the propensity of eukaryotic AlaRS to erroneously attach alanine onto tRNA and tRNA featuring the G4:U69 base pair.

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Proofreading (editing) of mischarged tRNAs by cytoplasmic aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs), whose impairment causes neurodegeneration and cardiac diseases, is of high significance for protein homeostasis. However, whether mitochondrial translation needs fidelity and the significance of editing by mitochondrial aaRSs have been unclear. Here, we show that mammalian cells critically depended on the editing of mitochondrial threonyl-tRNA synthetase (mtThrRS, encoded by ), disruption of which accumulated Ser-tRNA and generated a large abundance of Thr-to-Ser misincorporated peptides in vivo.

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Methyltransferase-like 8 (METTL8) encodes a mitochondria-localized METTL8-Iso1 and a nucleolus-distributed METTL8-Iso4 isoform, which differ only in their N-terminal extension (N-extension), by mRNA alternative splicing. METTL8-Iso1 generates 3-methylcytidine at position 32 (mC32) of mitochondrial tRNA and tRNA(UCN). Whether METTL8-Iso4 is an active mC32 methyltransferase and the role of the N-extension in mitochondrial tRNA mC32 formation remain unclear.

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The wastewater discharged from crude oil storage tanks (WCOST) contains high concentrations of salt and metal iron ions, and high chemical oxygen demand (COD). It belongs to "3-high" wastewater, which is difficult for purification. In this study, WCOST treatments were comparatively investigated via an advanced pretreatment and the traditional coagulation-microfiltration (CMF) processes.

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Although nascent RNA profiling data are widely used in transcriptional regulation studies, the development and standardization of data processing pipeline lags far behind RNA-seq. We are filling this gap by establishing the nASAP web server (https://grobase.top/nasap/) to provide practical quality evaluation and comprehensive analysis of nascent RNA datasets.

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Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common head and neck malignant with a high incidence in Southern China. Genetic aberrations play a vital role in the pathogenesis, progression and prognosis of NPC. In the present study, we elucidated the underlying mechanism of FAS-AS1 and its genetic variation rs6586163 in NPC.

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Article Synopsis
  • Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) are crucial for protein synthesis, with eukaryotes typically having multiple genes for threonyl-tRNA synthetases (ThrRSs), but C. elegans only has one gene, tars-1, which produces ThrRSs for both cytoplasmic and mitochondrial functions.
  • Knockdown of mitochondrial tars-1 led to impaired mitochondrial translation and various negative effects such as delayed growth and reduced motor skills, but these issues could be fixed by restoring tars-1 levels.
  • The study highlights how mitochondrial tars-1 deficiency affects oxygen consumption and activates the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR), linking mitochondrial translation issues to the activation of
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  • * While Tars1 is essential for survival, as evidenced by lethal outcomes in Tars1 knockout mice, deleting Tarsl2 in mice and zebrafish showed no impact on tRNA levels or mRNA translation efficiency.
  • * The study found that Tarsl2 mutants experienced severe developmental issues and metabolic changes, indicating that even though Tarsl2 may have some activity, it is not vital for protein synthesis but significantly affects overall development in organisms.
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Continuously and widely tunable lasers, actively stabilized on a frequency reference, are broadly employed in atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics. The frequency-stabilized optical frequency comb (OFC) provides a novel optical frequency reference, with a broadband spectrum that meets the requirement of laser frequency stabilization. Therefore, we demonstrate a frequency-stabilized and precisely tunable laser system based on it.

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Mitochondrial RNA metabolism is suggested to occur in identified compartmentalized foci, i.e. mitochondrial RNA granules (MRGs).

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Mitochondrial translation is of high significance for cellular energy homeostasis. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) are crucial translational components. Mitochondrial aaRS variants cause various human diseases.

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Article Synopsis
  • - METTL8 is a newly identified enzyme that adds a specific methyl group (3-methylcytidine) to mitochondrial tRNAs, and it may also affect mRNA and R-loop formation, although its exact roles are still being investigated.
  • - Different versions (isoforms) of METTL8 are produced through mRNA splicing, with one version (METTL8-Iso1) acting in mitochondria and another (METTL8-Iso4) found mainly in the nucleolus; they have distinct functions in modifying specific tRNAs.
  • - The study reveals how METTL8-Iso1 modifies human mitochondrial tRNAThr without needing another modification found in other tRNAs, and it also shows how this enzyme differentiates
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  • The evolutionary role of multi-tRNA synthetase complexes (MSC) involving aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, like human lysyl-tRNA synthetase (LysRS), is still unclear, but they're important for protein translation and various cellular processes.
  • Research shows that LysRS in multicellular organisms (metazoans) is more dynamic and reliant on scaffold proteins like AIMP2 for stability and function compared to simpler organisms.
  • The absence of AIMP2 leads to decreased cell growth under nutrient stress, indicating that the MSC may have evolved to protect aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases from being repurposed in different cellular functions.
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  • N 6-Threonylcarbamoyladenosine (t6A) is an important modification found in tRNAs, and its biosynthesis involves the KEOPS complex, mutations of which are linked to Galloway-Mowat syndrome.
  • The research shows that human cytoplasmic tRNAs with an ANN sequence always contain the t6A modification, suggesting a co-evolution of tRNA and modification enzymes.
  • t6A plays a crucial role in the aminoacylation of tRNAIle and influences decoding efficiency, revealing both similarities and differences in how KEOPS complexes recognize substrates across different eukaryotes.
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