How does tmRNA move through the ribosome?

Ivanov, Pavel V; Zvereva, Maria I; Shpanchenko, Olga V; Dontsova, Olga A; Bogdanov, Alexey A; Aglyamova, Galina V; Lim, Valery I; Teraoka, Yoshika; Nierhaus, Knud H

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Volume 514, Issue 1 , Pages 55-59, 6 March 2002

How does tmRNA move through the ribosome?

Edited by Lev Kisselev

Pavel V Ivanov
- Department of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119899 Moscow, Russia
- Max-Planck-Institute für Molekulare Genetik, AG Ribosomen, Ihnestrasse 73, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
Maria I Zvereva
- Department of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119899 Moscow, Russia
- Max-Planck-Institute für Molekulare Genetik, AG Ribosomen, Ihnestrasse 73, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
Olga V Shpanchenko
- Department of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119899 Moscow, Russia
Olga A Dontsova
- Department of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119899 Moscow, Russia
Alexey A Bogdanov
- Department of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119899 Moscow, Russia
Galina V Aglyamova
- Department of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119899 Moscow, Russia
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Science, Vavilov str. 32, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Valery I Lim
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Science, Vavilov str. 32, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Yoshika Teraoka
- Max-Planck-Institute für Molekulare Genetik, AG Ribosomen, Ihnestrasse 73, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
Knud H Nierhaus
- Max-Planck-Institute für Molekulare Genetik, AG Ribosomen, Ihnestrasse 73, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
- Corresponding author. Fax: (49)-30-8413 1690

Received 2 November 2001; received in revised form 19 November 2001; accepted 21 November 2001.

Abstract

To test the structure of tmRNA in solution, cross-linking experiments were performed which showed two sets of cross-links in two different domains of tmRNA. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to search for tmRNA nucleotide bases that might form a functional analogue of a codon–anticodon duplex to be recognized by the ribosomal A-site. We demonstrate that nucleotide residues U85 and A86 from tmRNA are significant for tmRNA function and propose that they are involved in formation of a tmRNA element playing a central role in A-site recognition. These data are discussed in the frame of a hypothetical model that suggests a general scheme for the interaction of tmRNA with the ribosome and explains how it moves through the ribosome.

Keywords: tmRNA, Ribosome, Translation, Cross-linking, Site-directed mutagenesis