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Updated: Jul 30, 2026

Isolation of Translating Ribosomes Containing Peptidyl-tRNAs for Functional and Structural Analyses
Published on: February 25, 2011
Bacterial polypeptide release factor RF2 is structurally distinct from eukaryotic eRF1
B Vestergaard1, L B Van, G R Andersen
1Institute of Molecular and Structural Biology, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
Abstract:
Bacterial release factor RF2 promotes termination of protein synthesis, specifically recognizing stop codons UAA or UGA. The crystal structure of Escherichia coli RF2 has been determined to a resolution of 1.8 A. RF2 is structurally distinct from its eukaryotic counterpart eRF1. The tripeptide SPF motif, thought to confer RF2 stop codon specificity, and the universally conserved GGQ motif, proposed to be involved with the peptidyl transferase center, are exposed in loops only 23 A apart, and the structure suggests that stop signal recognition is more complex than generally believed.
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