The image highlighted on the cover of Science on 17 June is a typographic illustration,
showing ribosome «trains» that travel down a track filled with signals.
This 3.6 - Å - resolution cryo - EM map
shows a ribosome (blue and light yellow) complexed with tRNAs (brown and green) and elongation factor G (red), during a crucial step in protein synthesis.
Not exact matches
Kiebler and his group had previously
shown that the brain - specific RNA - binding protein Staufen2 (Stau2) plays a central role in the transport of mRNAs from the cell nucleus to synaptic
ribosomes.
Preliminary safety testing on cells grown in the laboratory
showed the drugs were not toxic to mammalian cells because they only inhibit the bacterial
ribosomes and not mammalian
ribosomes.
To
show its promise, Zhang's team inserted C2c2 into E. coli bacteria, where it silenced a gene by cutting up a form of RNA that carries the gene's information to the
ribosomes.
Using cryo - electron microscopy to study the structure of such
ribosome - mRNA complexes, the researchers were able to
show the manner in which special rescue proteins (Dom34 and Hbs1) recognize such stalled
ribosomes, thereby initiating the splitting of the arrested complex and the degradation of the faulty mRNA.
The researchers were able to
show that a reduction in the number of
ribosomes — organelles known as the protein factories of the cell — is responsible for the disruption in the formation of red blood cells found in patients with DBA.
The study's findings
show that total
ribosome levels work in combination with certain structural elements of messenger RNA to determine the direction of a stem cell's development and differentiation.
The power and glory of X-ray crystallography were that it was the first technique to
show our eyes what the atomic world really looked like — initially for minerals and simple solids; then for small organic substances; eventually for giant molecules, macromolecular assemblies, and even organelles like the
ribosome.
The researchers were also able to
show that the process of translating certain sections of genetic information into new proteins is impaired in these
ribosomes.