title: -1 Programmed Ribosomal Frameshifting as a Force-Dependent Process.
abstract: -1 Programmed ribosomal frameshifting is a translational recoding event in which ribosomes slip backward along messenger RNA presumably due to increased tension disrupting the codon-anticodon interaction at the ribosome's coding site. Single-molecule physical methods and recent experiments characterizing the physical properties of mRNA's slippery sequence as well as the mechanical stability of downstream mRNA structure motifs that give rise to frameshifting are discussed. Progress in technology, experimental assays, and data analysis methods hold promise for accurate physical modeling and quantitative understanding of -1 programmed ribosomal frameshifting.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Physics and Molecular & Cellular Biology, College of Optical Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA. Electronic address: visscher@email.arizona.edu.
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Visscher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D018965:Frameshifting, Ribosomal; D006801:Humans; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008954:Models, Biological; D052898:Optical Tweezers
keywords: RNA; force; optical tweezers; single molecule; −1 programmed ribosomal frameshifting