Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Se-ing into selenocysteine biosynthesis

  • News & Views
  • Published:

From Nature Chemical Biology

View current issue Submit your manuscript

A cocrystal structure of the enzyme that synthesizes selenocysteine reveals the elegantly simple recognition mechanism for the tRNA molecule for this '21st amino acid'. The structure resolves some mechanistic questions and allows for comparison of the tRNA-dependent synthesis of cysteine and selenocysteine.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1: Synthesis of selenocysteine by SepSecS.

References

  1. Palioura, S. et al. Science 325, 321–325 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Forchhammer, K. & Böck, A. J. Biol. Chem. 266, 6324–6328 (1991).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Yuan, J. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103, 18923–18927 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Xu, X.-M. et al. PLoS Biol. 5, e4 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Ganichkin, O.M. et al. J. Biol. Chem. 283, 5849–5865 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Araiso, Y. et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 36, 1187–1199 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hauenstein, S.I. & Perona, J.J. J. Biol. Chem. 283, 22007–22017 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Eugene G. Mueller is the Charles L. Bloch Professor in the Department of Chemistry, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA. eugene.mueller@louisville.edu,

    Eugene G Mueller

Authors
  1. Eugene G Mueller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mueller, E. Se-ing into selenocysteine biosynthesis. Nat Chem Biol 5, 611–612 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio0909-611

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio0909-611

  • Springer Nature America, Inc.

This article is cited by

Search

Navigation