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Dynamic basis of fidelity and speed in translation: Coordinated multistep mechanisms of elongation and termination
Author(s) -
Prabhakar Arjun,
Choi Junhong,
Wang Jinfan,
Petrov Alexey,
Puglisi Joseph D.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
protein science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.353
H-Index - 175
eISSN - 1469-896X
pISSN - 0961-8368
DOI - 10.1002/pro.3190
Subject(s) - transfer rna , protein biosynthesis , translation (biology) , genetic code , ribosome , stop codon , computational biology , ef tu , messenger rna , fidelity , biology , rna , computer science , chemistry , biophysics , genetics , amino acid , gene , telecommunications
As the universal machine that transfers genetic information from RNA to protein, the ribosome synthesizes proteins with remarkably high fidelity and speed. This is a result of the accurate and efficient decoding of mRNA codons via multistep mechanisms during elongation and termination stages of translation. These mechanisms control how the correct sense codon is recognized by a tRNA for peptide elongation, how the next codon is presented to the decoding center without change of frame during translocation, and how the stop codon is discriminated for timely release of the nascent peptide. These processes occur efficiently through coupling of chemical energy expenditure, ligand interactions, and conformational changes. Understanding this coupling in detail required integration of many techniques that were developed in the past two decades. This multidisciplinary approach has revealed the dynamic nature of translational control and uncovered how external cellular factors such as tRNA abundance and mRNA modifications affect the synthesis of the protein product. Insights from these studies will aid synthetic biology and therapeutic approaches to translation.