The tRNA binding domain is also known as the Myf domain in literature. This domain is found in a diverse collection of tRNA binding proteins, including prokaryotic phenylalanyl tRNA synthetases (PheRS), methionyl-tRNA synthetases (MetRS), human tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase(hTyrRS), Saccharomyces cerevisiae Arc1p, Thermus thermophilus CsaA, Aquifex aeolicus Trbp111, human p43 and human EMAP-II. PheRS, MetRS and hTyrRS aminoacylate their cognate tRNAs. Arc1p is a transactivator of yeast methionyl-tRNA and glutamyl-tRNA synthetases. The molecular chaperones Trbp111 and CsaA also contain this domain. CsaA has export related activities; Trbp111 is structure-specific recognizing the L-shape of the tRNA fold. This domain has general tRNA binding properties. In a subset of this family this domain has the added capability of a cytokine. For example the p43 component of the Human aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase complex is cleaved to release EMAP-II cytokine. EMAP-II has multiple activities during apoptosis, angiogenesis and inflammation and participates in malignant transformation. An EMAP-II-like cytokine is released from hTyrRS upon cleavage. The active cytokine heptapeptide locates to this domain. For homodimeric members of this group which include CsaA, Trbp111 and Escherichia coli MetRS this domain acts as a dimerization domain.
Jiyao W et al.(2023). "The conserved domain database in 2023.",