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Atomic Glimpses on a Billion‐Year‐Old Molecular Machine
Author(s) -
Westhof Eric,
Leontis Neocles
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1521-3773(20000502)39:9<1587::aid-anie1587>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - ribosome , ribosomal rna , structural biology , rna , cryo electron microscopy , electron microscope , ribosomal protein , crystallography , neutron scattering , computational biology , chemistry , biology , neutron , biophysics , physics , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , gene , nuclear physics , optics
In every biological cell the ribosomal particles are responsible for the biosynthesis of proteins. Crystal structures of the ribosome and its two subunits have now appeared at resolutions between 4.5 and 7.8 Å (an example is shown). The electron density maps reveal RNA helices, previously identified RNA motifs and domains, and several ribosomal proteins. These milestones in structural biology validate previous results from neutron scattering and cryo‐electron microscopy experiments and secure the future of structural ribosomology.