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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Isolation of Translating Ribosomes Containing Peptidyl-tRNAs for Functional and Structural Analyses
Published on: February 25, 2011
The Structural and Functional Organization of Ribosomal Compartment in the Cell: A Mystery or a Reality?
Elizaveta A Karpova1, Reynald Gillet2
1Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, CH266, 901 14th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35294-1240, USA; Department of Physics, Division of Molecular Biophysics and Physics of Polymers, St. Petersburg State University, Ulyanovskaya 1, St. Petersburg, 198904, Russia.
Abstract:
Great progress has been made toward solving the atomic structure of the ribosome, which is the main biosynthetic machine in cells, but we still do not have a full picture of exactly how cellular ribosomes function. Based on the analysis of crystallographic and electron microscopy data, we propose a basic model of the structural organization of ribosomes into a compartment. This compartment is regularly formed by arrays of ribosomal tetramers made up of two dimers that are actually facing in opposite directions. The compartment functions as the main 'factory' for the production of cellular proteins. The model is consistent with the existing biochemical and genetic data. We also consider the functional connections of such a compartment with cellular transcription and ribosomal biogenesis.
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