MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry methods for evaluation of in vitro aminoacyl tRNA production.

  1. E James Petersson,
  2. Mona Shahgholi,
  3. Henry A Lester, and
  4. Dennis A Dougherty
  1. Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91125, USA

Abstract

Unnatural amino acid mutagenesis requires the in vitro production of aminoacyl tRNAs. Bacteriophage T4 RNA ligase is used to ligate a-amino-protected dCA amino acids to 74mer tRNA. Previously, there has been no facile method for evaluating the efficiency of this reaction prior to using the tRNA in translation. We report a novel use of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry in monitoring the formation of aminoacyl 76mer tRNA. This method is more efficient and precise than the traditional technique of gel electrophoresis. These MALDI conditions should also prove useful for analyzing aminoacyl tRNAs produced through aminoacyl tRNA synthetases and other methods.

| Table of Contents

This Article

  1. RNA 8: 542-547

Share

Current Issue

  1. August 2026, 32 (8)
  1. Current Issue
  1. Alert me to new issues of RNA