Tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase: the first crystallization of a human mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase

Crystals of human mitochondrial tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase lacking the C-terminal S4-like domain diffract to 2.7 Å resolution and are suitable for structure determination. Human mitochondrial tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase and a truncated version with its C-terminal S4-like domain deleted were purified and crystallized. Only the truncated version, which is active in tyrosine activation and Escherichia coli tRNA^Tyr charging, yielded crystals suitable for structure determination. These tetragonal crystals, belonging to space group P4₃2₁2, were obtained in the presence of PEG 4000 as a crystallizing agent and diffracted X-rays to 2.7 Å resolution. Complete data sets could be collected and led to structure solution by molecular replacement