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Ribosome interactions of aminoacyl-tRNA and elongation factor Tu in the codon-recognition complex

Nature Structural Biology volume 9, pages 849–854 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

The mRNA codon in the ribosomal A-site is recognized by aminoacyl-tRNA (aa-tRNA) in a ternary complex with elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) and GTP. Here we report the 13 Å resolution three-dimensional reconstruction determined by cryo-electron microscopy of the kirromycin-stalled codon-recognition complex. The structure of the ternary complex is distorted by binding of the tRNA anticodon arm in the decoding center. The aa-tRNA interacts with 16S rRNA, helix 69 of 23S rRNA and proteins S12 and L11, while the sarcin-ricin loop of 23S rRNA contacts domain 1 of EF-Tu near the nucleotide-binding pocket. These results provide a detailed snapshot view of an important functional state of the ribosome and suggest mechanisms of decoding and GTPase activation.

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Figure 1: Three-dimensional reconstruction of the 70S E. coli ribosome in complex with aa-tRNA and EF-Tu.
Figure 2: Position of the P-site tRNA.
Figure 3: Ternary complex in the A site.
Figure 4: Domain rearrangement in EF-Tu.

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Acknowledgements

We thank C. Schillings, A. Böhm, S. Möbitz and P. Striebeck for expert technical assistance and M. Schatz and R. Schmidt for IMAGIC-5 (ref. 45) support. Work in our laboratories is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, 37077, Germany

    Holger Stark

  2. Institute of Physical Biochemistry, University of Witten/Herdecke, Witten, 58448, Germany

    Marina V. Rodnina & Hans-Joachim Wieden

  3. Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max-Planck Society, Berlin, 14195, Germany

    Friedrich Zemlin

  4. Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Witten/Herdecke, Witten, 58448, Germany

    Wolfgang Wintermeyer

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College of Science, Medicine and Technology, London, SW7 2AY, UK

    Marin van Heel

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  1. Holger Stark
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Correspondence to Holger Stark.

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Stark, H., Rodnina, M., Wieden, HJ. et al. Ribosome interactions of aminoacyl-tRNA and elongation factor Tu in the codon-recognition complex. Nat Struct Mol Biol 9, 849–854 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsb859

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