title: The path of messenger RNA through the ribosome.
abstract: Using X-ray crystallography, we have directly observed the path of mRNA in the 70S ribosome in Fourier difference maps at 7 A resolution. About 30 nucleotides of the mRNA are wrapped in a groove that encircles the neck of the 30S subunit. The Shine-Dalgarno helix is bound in a large cleft between the head and the back of the platform. At the interface, only about eight nucleotides (-1 to +7), centered on the junction between the A and P codons, are exposed, and bond almost exclusively to 16S rRNA. The mRNA enters the ribosome around position +13 to +15, the location of downstream pseudoknots that stimulate -1 translational frame shifting.
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Biology of RNA, Sinsheimer Laboratories, University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
authors.forename: G Z
authors.initials: GZ
authors.lastname: Yusupova
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Yusupov
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cate
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Noller
mesh_terms: D017122:Bacteriophage T4 / Q000235:genetics; D020029:Base Pairing; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D003062:Codon / Q000235:genetics; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D018965:Frameshifting, Ribosomal; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D021122:Protein Subunits; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016963:Thermus thermophilus / Q000737:chemistry; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D021122:Protein Subunits; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D014764:Viral Proteins; C060035:gp32 protein, Enterobacteria phage T4