title: The mechanics of ribosomal translocation.
abstract: The ribosome translates the sequence of codons of an mRNA into the corresponding sequence of amino acids as it moves along the mRNA with a codon-step width of about 10 Å. The movement of the million-dalton complex ribosome is triggered by the universal elongation factor G (EF2 in archaea and eukaryotes) and is termed translocation. Unraveling the molecular details of translocation is one of the most challenging tasks of current ribosome research. In the last two years, enormous progress has been obtained by highly-resolved X-ray and cryo-electron microscopic structures as well as by sophisticated biochemical approaches concerning the trigger and control of the movement of the tRNA2·mRNA complex inside the ribosome during translocation. This review inspects and surveys these achievements.
authors.affiliation: NOXXON Pharma AG, Max-Dohrn-Str. 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Achenbach
authors.affiliation: Institut für Medizinische Physik und Biophysik, Charité, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Genetik, Ihnestr. 73, D-14195 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: nierhaus@molgen.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Knud H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Nierhaus
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D020134:Catalytic Domain; D006801:Humans; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020653:Peptide Elongation Factor G / Q000502:physiology; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000378:metabolism; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D020653:Peptide Elongation Factor G; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012343:RNA, Transfer
keywords: Control of tRNA(2)·mRNA movement on the ribosome; EF-G dependent GTPase activity; Elongation cycle; Protein synthesis; Translocation