Nanopore sequencing of intact aminoacylated tRNAs

Abstract

The intricate landscape of tRNA modification presents persistent analytical challenges, which have impeded efforts to simultaneously resolve sequence, modification, and aminoacylation state at the level of individual tRNAs. To address these challenges, we introduce "aa-tRNA-seq", an integrated method that uses chemical ligation to sandwich the amino acid of a charged tRNA in between the body of the tRNA and an adaptor oligonucleotide, followed by high throughput nanopore sequencing. Our approach reveals the identity of the amino acids attached to all tRNAs in a cellular sample, at the single molecule level. We describe machine learning models that enable the accurate identification of amino acid identities based on the unique signal distortions generated by the interactions between the amino acid in the RNA backbone and the nanopore motor protein and reader head. We apply aa-tRNA-seq to characterize the impact of the loss of specific tRNA modification enzymes, confirming the hypomodification-associated instability of specific tRNAs, and identifying additional candidate targets of modification. Our studies lay the groundwork for understanding the efficiency and fidelity of tRNA aminoacylation as a function of tRNA sequence, modification, and environmental conditions.