Purification of 70S ribosomes
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Updated: Apr 16, 2026

Chromatographic Purification of Highly Active Yeast Ribosomes
Published on: October 24, 2011
Maria C Rivera1, Bruce Maguire2, James A Lake3
1Department of Biology and Center for the Study of Biological Complexity, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284;
Abstract:
Here we describe the further purification of prokaryotic ribosomal particles obtained after the centrifugation of a crude cell lysate through a sucrose cushion. In this final purification step, a fraction containing ribosomes, ribosomal subunits, and polysomes is centrifuged through a 7%-30% (w/w) linear sucrose gradient to isolate tight couple 70S ribosomes, as well as dissociated 30S and 50S subunits. The tight couples fraction, or translationally active ribosome fraction, is composed of intact vacant ribosomes that can be used in cell-free translation systems.
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