UC San Diego

Editing domains of aminoacyl tRNA synthetases correct tRNA charging errors to maintain translational fidelity. A mutation in the editing domain of alanyl tRNA synthetase (AlaRS) in Aars ^sti mutant mice results in an increase in the production of serine-mischarged tRNA^Ala and the degeneration of cerebellar Purkinje cells. Here, using positional cloning, we identified Ankrd16, a gene that acts epistatically with the Aars ^sti mutation to attenuate neurodegeneration. ANKRD16, a vertebrate-specific protein that contains ankyrin repeats, binds directly to the catalytic domain of AlaRS. Serine that is misactivated by AlaRS is captured by the lysine side chains of ANKRD16, which prevents the charging of serine adenylates to tRNA^Ala and precludes serine misincorporation in nascent peptides. The deletion of Ankrd16 in the brains of Aars^sti/sti mice causes widespread protein aggregation and neuron loss. These results identify an amino-acid-accepting co-regulator of tRNA synthetase editing as a new layer of the machinery that is essential to the prevention of severe pathologies that arise from defects in editing.