Structural highlights
Publication Abstract from PubMed
The decoding A site of the small ribosomal subunit is an RNA molecular switch, which monitors codon-anticodon interactions to guarantee translation fidelity. We have solved the crystal structure of an RNA fragment containing two Homo sapiens cytoplasmic A sites. Each of the two A sites presents a different conformational state. In one state, adenines A1492 and A1493 are fully bulged-out with C1409 forming a wobble-like pair to A1491. In the second state, adenines A1492 and A1493 form non-Watson-Crick pairs with C1409 and G1408, respectively while A1491 bulges out. The first state of the eukaryotic A site is, thus, basically the same as in the bacterial A site with bulging A1492 and A1493. It is the state used for recognition of the codon/anticodon complex. On the contrary, the second state of the H.sapiens cytoplasmic A site is drastically different from any of those observed for the bacterial A site without bulging A1492 and A1493.
Two conformational states in the crystal structure of the Homo sapiens cytoplasmic ribosomal decoding A site.,Kondo J, Urzhumtsev A, Westhof E Nucleic Acids Res. 2006 Feb 1;34(2):676-85. Print 2006. PMID:16452297[1]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
References
- ↑ Kondo J, Urzhumtsev A, Westhof E. Two conformational states in the crystal structure of the Homo sapiens cytoplasmic ribosomal decoding A site. Nucleic Acids Res. 2006 Feb 1;34(2):676-85. Print 2006. PMID:16452297 doi:34/2/676