Structural Heterogeneity in Pre-40S Ribosomes

Late-stage 40S ribosome assembly is a highly regulated dynamic process that occurs in the cytoplasm, alongside the full translation machinery. Seven assembly factors (AFs) regulate and facilitate maturation, but the mechanisms through which they work remain undetermined. Here, we present a series of structures of the immature small subunit (pre-40S) determined by three-dimensional (3D) cryoelectron microscopy with 3D sorting to assess the molecule's heterogeneity. These structures demonstrate an extensive structural heterogeneity of interface AFs that likely regulates subunit joining during 40S maturation. We also present structural models for the beak and the platform, two regions where the low resolution of previous studies did not allow for localization of AFs and the rRNA, respectively. These models are supported by biochemical analyses using point variants and suggest that maturation of the 18S 3' end is regulated by dissociation of the AF Dim1 from the subunit interface, consistent with previous biochemical analyses.