Ab-initio Study Of Solvated Methionine-tRNAmet And Alanine-tRNAala Molecules.

The tRNA molecule takes suitable amino acids to the ribosome for the formation of peptide bonds. In starting the peptide chain, the first amino acid taken to the ribosome is methionine. We have carried out calculations on the methionine-tRNA and alanine-tRNA complexes using mixed quantum mechanics ab-initio and molecular mechanics method. The total energies and dipole moments have also been calculated. The amino acids chosen for this study, alanine and methionine have almost the same hydropath index. It is important to understand the physical properties and the environmental conditions in which the dipeptides cause the tRNA to attach to a wrong amino acid. One of the properties studied is the dielectric environment in which the bonding occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]