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Publication Abstract from PubMed

Prokaryotic toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are composed of a toxin capable of interfering with key cellular processes and its neutralizing antidote, the antitoxin. Here, we focus on the HEPN-MNT TA system encoded in the vicinity of a subtype I-D CRISPR-Cas system in the cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon flos-aquae. We show that HEPN acts as a toxic RNase, which cleaves off 4 nt from the 3' end in a subset of tRNAs, thereby interfering with translation. Surprisingly, we find that the MNT (minimal nucleotidyltransferase) antitoxin inhibits HEPN RNase through covalent di-AMPylation (diadenylylation) of a conserved tyrosine residue, Y109, in the active site loop. Furthermore, we present crystallographic snapshots of the di-AMPylation reaction at different stages that explain the mechanism of HEPN RNase inactivation. Finally, we propose that the HEPN-MNT system functions as a cellular ATP sensor that monitors ATP homeostasis and, at low ATP levels, releases active HEPN toxin.

HEPN-MNT Toxin-Antitoxin System: The HEPN Ribonuclease Is Neutralized by OligoAMPylation.,Songailiene I, Juozapaitis J, Tamulaitiene G, Ruksenaite A, Sulcius S, Sasnauskas G, Venclovas C, Siksnys V Mol Cell. 2020 Dec 17;80(6):955-970.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.11.034. Epub, 2020 Dec 7. PMID:33290744^[2]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.