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Related Concept Videos

Improving Translational Accuracy02:07

Improving Translational Accuracy

Base complementarity between the three base pairs of mRNA codon and the tRNA anticodon is not a failsafe mechanism. Inaccuracies can range from a single mismatch to no correct base pairing at all. The free energy difference between the correct and nearly correct base pairs can be as small as 3 kcal/ mol. With complementarity being the only proofreading step, the estimated error frequency would be one wrong amino acid in every 100 amino acids incorporated. However, error frequencies observed in...
Translation01:31

Translation

Lesson: Translation
Translation is the process of synthesizing proteins from the genetic information carried by messenger RNA (mRNA). Following transcription, it constitutes the final step in the expression of genes. This process is carried out by ribosomes, complexes of protein and specialized RNA molecules. Ribosomes, transfer RNA (tRNA), and other proteins produce a chain of amino acids—the polypeptide—as the end product of translation.
Translation Produces the Building Blocks of Life
Translation01:31

Translation

Lesson: Translation
Translation is the process of synthesizing proteins from the genetic information carried by messenger RNA (mRNA). Following transcription, it constitutes the final step in the expression of genes. This process is carried out by ribosomes, complexes of protein and specialized RNA molecules. Ribosomes, transfer RNA (tRNA), and other proteins produce a chain of amino acids—the polypeptide—as the end product of translation.
Translation Produces the Building Blocks of Life
Initiation of Translation02:33

Initiation of Translation

Initiating translation is complex because it involves multiple molecules. Initiator tRNA, ribosomal subunits, and eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs) are all required to assemble on the initiation codon of mRNA. This process consists of several steps that are mediated by different eIFs.
First, the initiator tRNA must be selected from the pool of elongator tRNAs by eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2). The initiator tRNA (Met-tRNAi) has conserved sequence elements including modified bases at...
Initiation of Translation02:33

Initiation of Translation

Initiating translation is complex because it involves multiple molecules. Initiator tRNA, ribosomal subunits, and eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs) are all required to assemble on the initiation codon of mRNA. This process consists of several steps that are mediated by different eIFs.
First, the initiator tRNA must be selected from the pool of elongator tRNAs by eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2). The initiator tRNA (Met-tRNAi) has conserved sequence elements including modified bases at...
Leaky Scanning02:28

Leaky Scanning

During most eukaryotic translation processes, the small 40S ribosome subunit scans an mRNA from its 5' end until it encounters the first start AUG codon. The large 60S ribosomal subunit then joins the smaller one to initiate protein synthesis. The location of the translation initiation is largely determined by the nucleotides near the start codon as there may be multiple translation initiation sites present on the mRNA.  Marilyn Kozak discovered that the sequence RCCAUGG (where R stands for...

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Xenopus laevis as a Model to Identify Translation Impairment
10:24

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Published on: September 27, 2015

Cell-specific differences in the requirements for translation quality control.

Noah M Reynolds1, Jiqiang Ling, Hervé Roy

  • 1Department of Microbiology, Center for RNA Biology, Ohio State Biochemistry Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|February 18, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Mitochondrial protein synthesis requires high accuracy, unlike cytoplasmic synthesis. Errors in mitochondrial phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase (mtPheRS) lead to growth defects and genome loss, highlighting compartment-specific quality control needs.

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Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Protein synthesis fidelity is crucial, maintained by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) and ribosomal selection.
  • Many aaRSs possess proofreading (editing) activity to prevent errors, exemplified by phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetases (PheRS).
  • Eukaryotes have distinct cytoplasmic (ctPheRS) and mitochondrial (mtPheRS) forms of PheRS.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of proofreading in mitochondrial protein synthesis accuracy.
  • To compare the quality control requirements between cytoplasmic and mitochondrial protein synthesis.
  • To understand the impact of translational errors on cellular physiology and mitochondrial function.

Main Methods:

  • Characterization of wild-type and error-prone mitochondrial phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase (mtPheRS).
  • Assessment of aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis specificity in vitro.
  • Analysis of cell growth, respiratory function, and mitochondrial genome stability in yeast strains expressing different PheRS variants.

Main Results:

  • Mitochondrial PheRS (mtPheRS) exhibits extremely high specificity without editing, maintaining a low error rate.
  • Increased error rates in mtPheRS severely impaired cell growth on respiratory media and led to mitochondrial genome loss.
  • Editing-deficient cytoplasmic PheRS (ctPheRS) and error-prone mtPheRS did not affect cytoplasmic protein synthesis or cell growth, indicating compartment-specific tolerance to errors.

Conclusions:

  • Mitochondrial protein synthesis demands a higher degree of translational accuracy than cytoplasmic synthesis.
  • The absence of editing in mtPheRS is compensated by intrinsic high specificity, crucial for mitochondrial integrity.
  • Cellular physiology and compartment-specific factors significantly influence the requirements for translational fidelity.