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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Single Molecule Fluorescence Energy Transfer Study of Ribosome Protein Synthesis
Published on: July 6, 2021
A time-resolved investigation of ribosomal subunit association
Scott P Hennelly1, Ayman Antoun, Måns Ehrenberg
1Division of Biological Sciences, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA.
Abstract:
The notion that the ribosome is dynamic has been supported by various biochemical techniques, as well as by differences observed in high-resolution structures of ribosomal complexes frozen in various functional states. Yet, the mechanisms and extent of rRNA dynamics are still largely unknown. We have used a novel, fast chemical-modification technique to provide time-resolved details of 16 S rRNA structural changes that occur as bridges are formed between the ribosomal subunits as they associate. Association of different 16 S rRNA regions was found to be a sequential, multi-step process involving conformational rearrangements within the 30 S subunit. Our results suggest that key regions of 16 S rRNA, necessary for decoding and tRNA A-site binding, are structurally altered in a time-dependent manner by association with the 50 S ribosomal subunits.
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