title: Starting the protein synthesis machine: eukaryotic translation initiation.
abstract: The final assembly of the protein synthesis machinery occurs during translation initiation. This delicate process involves both ends of eukaryotic messenger RNAs as well as multiple sequential protein-RNA and protein-protein interactions. As is expected from its critical position in the gene expression pathway between the transcriptome and the proteome, translation initiation is a selective and highly regulated process. This synopsis summarises the current status of the field and identifies intriguing open questions.
authors.affiliation: Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI), Molecular Genetics Program, Sydney, Australia. t.preiss@victorchang.unsw.edu.au
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Preiss
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: W  Hentze
mesh_terms: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D000818:Animals; D018387:Codon, Initiator; D039642:Eukaryotic Initiation Factors; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010442:Peptide Chain Initiation, Translational; D011485:Protein Binding; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D018387:Codon, Initiator; D039642:Eukaryotic Initiation Factors; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger