Structural Overview
The major structural elements of ValRS, like other class-Ia aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, are a helical insertion into the N-terminal half of a Rossmann fold domain and an α-helix bundle domain near the C-terminus[3]. Additionally, ValRS has a large editing domain important in the discrimination between valine and structurally similar amino acids. A positively charged (SC-fold) domain contacts the D-loop of tRNA(val), creating a space between the anticodon recognition and editing domains where the tRNA is "pinched" and held onto. This positive patch lines up with the negative backbone of the D-stem, with the Arg570 side chain contacting the oxygens of C11 and C25, the aromatic nitrogen of Trp571 forming weak bonds with the oxygens of U12, and the side chain of Arg566 hydrogen bonding with the backbone of C13.
tRNA(val) Recognition
Amino Acid Discrimination