J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 261, Issue 15, 6670-6676, May, 1986
Fluorescence studies on a streptomycin-induced conformational change in ribosomes which correlates with misreading
JS Hanas and MV Simpson
The fluorescent reagent N-(iodoacetylaminoethyl)-5-naphthylamine-1-
sulfonic acid (I-AEDANS) was employed to detect and study the previously
reported conformational change in the Escherichia coli ribosome induced by
streptomycin. Labeling of ribosomes with this probe, which results in the
derivatization of proteins S18 and L31', described earlier, inhibits
neither their ribosomal protein synthesizing nor misreading ability. To
calculate the amount of streptomycin bound to the ribosome, we determined
the K'D for streptomycin, which is 0.24 micron, indicating that under our
conditions, bound streptomycin/ribosome molar ratios are low, not in excess
of 1. Under these conditions, streptomycin addition induces fluorescence
quenching by 15% but does not affect streptomycin- resistant ribosomes.
Maximal misreading occurs at these same ratios. Removal of AEDANS-L31' from
the ribosomes drastically reduces streptomycin-induced quenching indicating
the involvement of the environment of this protein in streptomycin action.
The finding that streptomycin decreases AEDANS-L31' affinity for the
ribosome supports this view. Streptomycin has been shown to bind to the 30
S subunit protein S4 while the 50 S protein L31' has been shown to be
localized at the subunit interface. Thus, the observation that streptomycin
influences this 50 S subunit protein L31', combined with the tight
correlation between the effects of streptomycin on quenching and on
misreading, strongly suggests that this antibiotic induces a conformational
change at the subunit interface of the ribosome, and that this results in
misreading. Polyuridylic acid also induces a conformational change in the
ribosome but the polynucleotide and streptomycin seem to act independently.
Streptomycin-resistant ribosomes, which undergo neither
streptomycin-induced fluorescence nor streptomycin-induced misreading, are
resistant to misreading induced by high Mg2+ as well.