Peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase (Pth) catalyzes the breakdown of peptidyl-tRNA into peptide and
tRNA components. Pth from Acinetobacter baumannii (Ab Pth) was cloned, expressed,
purified and crystallized in a native unbound (Ab Pth-N) state and in a bound state with the
phosphate ion and cytosine arabinoside (cytarabine)(Ab Pth-C). Structures of Ab Pth-N and
Ab Pth-C were determined at 1.36 and 1.10 Å resolutions, respectively. The structure of Ab
Pth-N showed that the active site is filled with water molecules. In the structure of Ab Pth-C, a …

The process of protein synthesis in a normal healthy cell involves translation of genetic
information contained in mRNA into a polypeptide chain. However, due to various reasons,
the translation process often gets terminated abruptly which results in accumulation of a
byproduct of peptidyl-tRNA molecules. This reduces the supply of amino acids and tRNA
which are required for the biosynthesis of proteins in the cell. This situation is overcome by
an enzyme, peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase (Pth) which catalyzes the breakdown of peptidyl-tRNA …