Two proteomic methodologies for defining N-termini of mature human mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases

- Processing of targeting sequences contributes to mitochondrial biogenesis.
- Aspartyl-tRNA synthetase has three N-termini in mitochondria.
- Mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases have distinctive processing patterns.

Human mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (mt-aaRSs) are encoded in the nucleus, synthesized in the cytosol and targeted for importation into mitochondria by a N-terminal mitochondrial targeting sequence. This targeting sequence is presumably cleaved upon entry into the mitochondria, following a process still not fully deciphered in human, despite essential roles for the mitochondrial biogenesis. Maturation processes are indeed essential both for the release of a functional enzyme and to route correctly the protein within mitochondria. The absence of consensus sequences for cleavage sites and the discovery of possible multiple proteolytic steps render predictions of N-termini difficult. Further, the knowledge of the cleavages is key for the design of protein constructions compatible with efficient production in bacterial strains. Finally, full comprehension becomes essential because a growing number of mutations are found in genes coding for mt-aaRS. In the present study, we take advantage of proteomic methodological developments and identified, in mitochondria, three N-termini for the human mitochondrial aspartyl-tRNA synthetase. This first description of the co-existence of different forms opens new perspectives in the biological understanding of this enzyme. Those methods are extended to the whole set of human mt-aaRSs and methodological advice are provided for further investigations.