title: Single-molecule imaging with a tagged ribosome to explore trans-translation.
abstract: Single-molecule imaging is a powerful technique to visualize molecular interactions and movements. Translation is one of the most interesting targets for researchers with the molecular-imaging skills, since mRNA, tRNA and translation factors interact with or move inside or on the ribosome in an ordered manner. Trans-translation is a bacterial quality control system to rescue the ribosomes stalled at the 3' end of the mRNA, and this phenomenon is recapitulated in vitro with defined factors including two trans-translation-specific entities tmRNA and SmpB. Zhou et al. (Single molecule imaging of the trans-translation entry process via anchoring of the tagged ribosome. J Biochem 2011;149:609-618.) successfully visualized the interaction of the tmRNA-SmpB complex with the ribosome by immobilizing the ribosome on the quartz surface with the HaloTag technology. This ribosome-anchoring system may be useful for the imaging analysis of other processes of translation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Chemistry, Molecular Nanotechnology Research Center, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Hyogo, Himeji 671-2280, Japan. imataka@eng.u-hyogo.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imataka
mesh_terms: D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*