Traffic of interacting ribosomes: effects of single-machine mechanochemistry on protein synthesis.
Many ribosomes simultaneously move on the same messenger RNA (mRNA), each synthesizing separately a copy of the same protein. In contrast to the earlier models, here we develop a "unified" theoretical model that not only incorporates the mutual exclusions of the interacting ribosomes, but also describes explicitly the mechanochemistry of each of these macromolecular machines during protein synthesis. Using analytical and numerical techniques of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, we analyze the rates of protein synthesis and the spatiotemporal organization of the ribosomes in this model. We also predict how these properties would change with the changes in the rates of the various chemomechanical processes in each ribosome. Finally, we illustrate the power of this model by making experimentally testable predictions on the rates of protein synthesis and the density profiles of the ribosomes on some mRNAs in E-coli.
Basu
Aakash
A
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 208016, India.
Chowdhury
Debashish
D
D001671:Biochemistry / Q000379:methods; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000379:methods; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008954:Models, Biological; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009038:Motion; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
D012333:RNA, Messenger