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Updated: Apr 10, 2026

Single Molecule Fluorescence Energy Transfer Study of Ribosome Protein Synthesis
Published on: July 6, 2021
Insights into the origin of the nuclear localization signals in conserved ribosomal proteins
Sergey Melnikov1, Adam Ben-Shem2, Gulnara Yusupova2
11] Strasbourg University, 4 Rue Blaise Pascal, 67081 Strasbourg, France [2] Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology, 1 Rue Laurent Fries, 67400 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France [3] Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, 266 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA.
Abstract:
Eukaryotic ribosomal proteins, unlike their bacterial homologues, possess nuclear localization signals (NLSs) to enter the cell nucleus during ribosome assembly. Here we provide a comprehensive comparison of bacterial and eukaryotic ribosomes to show that NLSs appear in conserved ribosomal proteins via remodelling of their RNA-binding domains. This finding enabled us to identify previously unknown NLSs in ribosomal proteins from humans, and suggests that, apart from promoting protein transport, NLSs may facilitate folding of ribosomal RNA.
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