aTyr's research and development efforts are concentrated on a newly discovered area of biology, the extracellular functionality of
tRNA synthetases. aTyr has built a global intellectual property estate directed to a potential pipeline of protein compositions derived from 20
tRNA synthetase genes.
"We continue to execute our clinical development plan for our lead therapeutic candidate, ATYR1923, while also entering into meaningful collaborations with both academic institutions and global drug development partners that leverage our novel
tRNA synthetase biology," said Sanjay Shukla, president and CEO of aTyr.
On the seventh day of hospitalization, the results of analysis of a blood sample taken on the day of admission showed that the patient had positive titers for autoantibodies against aminoacyl
tRNA synthetase (ARS), including anti-Jo-1 antibodies.
Interestingly, amongst the seven genes that have been identified to cause the disease, most have housekeeping functions, including small heat shock proteins (sHSP) (dHMN-II); glycyl
tRNA synthetase (GARS) (dHMN-V); Berardinelli-Seip congenital lipodystrophy (BSCL2) (dHMN-V); immunoglobulin [micro]-binding protein-2 (IGHMBP2) (dHMN-VI); dynactin (DCTN1) (dHMN-VII); and senataxin (SETX) (dHMN) with pyramidal tract signs.
Overexpression of human mitochondrial valyl
tRNA synthetase can partially restore levels of cognate mt-[tRNA.sup.Val] carrying the pathogenic C25U mutation.
Moreover, we found no homologue in these genomes of the particular domain TIGR03912 that is present in archaeal PylS and bacterial PylSn proteins and that enhances the interaction of the
tRNA synthetase to its specific tRNA [55].
The researchers were able to home in on a single amino acid, called proline, and discovered that HF targeted and inhibited a particular enzyme (
tRNA synthetase EPRS) responsible for incorporating proline into proteins that normally contain it.
The privately held biotech was founded by Scripps Research Institute Professor Paul Schimmel, a leading aminoacyl
tRNA synthetase scientist, and is backed by top life sciences investors Alta Partners, Cardinal Partners, Domain Associates and Polaris Ventures.
According to them, the genes
tRNA synthetase, ATPase, and carbomyl phosphate synthetase could not be used confidently to root the tree of life because of the difficulty to choose between different evolutionary scenarios, knowing that gene duplication, gene loss, and lateral gene transfer have been frequent during prokaryotic evolution.
2002), and the glycyl
tRNA synthetase gene (GARS) (Antonellis et al.
ATYR1923, a fusion protein comprised of the immuno-modulatory domain of histidyl
tRNA synthetase fused to the FC region of a human antibody, is a selective modulator of Neuropilin-2 that downregulates the innate and adaptive immune response in inflammatory disease states.