Translation

Analyses of in-frame stop codons in protein-coding genes of Blastocrithidia nonstop with all three stop codons reassigned reveal a mechanism for UGA reassignment in eukaryotes involving shortening of the tRNA anticodon stem and a mutant eRF1 release factor.

Structures of the human METTL1–WDR4 complex are revealed, providing molecular insights into substrate recognition, modification and catalytic regulation by the N⁷-methylguanosine methyltransferase complex.

Ribosome^ST—a ribosome with a specialized nascent polypeptide exit tunnel—cotranslationally regulates the folding of a subset of male germ-cell-specific proteins that are essential for the formation of sperm.

Cryo-electron tomography is used to reveal the structural dynamics and functional diversity of translating ribosomes in Mycoplasma pneumoniae, providing insight into the translation elongation cycle inside cells and how it is reshaped by antibiotics.

Single-molecule spectroscopy and structural studies were used to examine the dynamics of association of eIF1A and eIF5B with the human translation initiation complex and their role in presenting tRNA to the complex to initiate translation.

Structural analysis of several small mitoribosomal subunit intermediates reveals a sequential mechanism of biogenesis, and how assembly links to initiation to form active mitoribosomes.

Reversible internal RNA phosphrylation contributes to thermal stability and nuclease resistance of tRNA, and cellular thermotolerance of hyperthermophiles. 

In bacteria, a newly identified endonuclease activated by ribosome collisions truncates mRNA to trigger rescue of stalled ribosomes.

Bacterial MutS2, a paralogue of the DNA mismatch-repair protein MutS, is found to bind collided ribosomes and function in translational quality control.

Ageing alters the kinetics of translation elongation in both Caenorhabditis elegans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Restriction of dietary valine reduces growth of T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia through altered valine tRNA biogenesis and reduced translation of mRNAs that encode subunits of mitochondrial complex I.

Structural analysis of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae 80S ribosome trapped in an intermediate translocation state shows stabilization of codon–anticodon interactions by eukaryote-specific elements of the 80S ribosome, eEF2 and tRNA and demonstrates a major role for eEF2 in maintaining the directionality of translocation.

Highly sensitive ribosome profiling of single cells at single-codon resolution enables identification of distinct cell cycle-dependent translational dynamic states in individual cells.

A proteomics-based strategy is used to examine how three different RNA viruses (polio, Zika and dengue) remodel translation in the host to recruit host machineries necessary for the production of viral proteins.

Cryo-electron microscopy and single-molecule fluorescence methods are used to elucidate the mechanism of early translocation events on the bacterial ribosome.

The natural antisense transcript MAPT-AS1 interferes with translation of mRNA transcript into tau protein in the brain and may represent a general mechanism for controlling levels of intrinsically disordered proteins, with particular relevance for neurodegeneration.

Tryptophan depletion in melanoma cells after prolonged treatment with interferon-γ (IFNγ) results in ribosomal frameshifting and the production of aberrant peptides that can be presented to T cells and induce an immune response.

Studies of five cryo-electron microscopy structures reveal the composition and conformational progression in the final maturation events of human 40S ribosomal subunit assembly.

A high-resolution map of coding regions in the SARS-CoV-2 genome enables the identification of 23 unannotated open reading frames and quantification of the expression of canonical viral open reading frames.

In Bacillus subtilis, unlike in Escherichia coli, transcription and translation of genes are not tightly coupled, and pioneering ribosomes lag substantially behind RNA polymerases.

Time-resolved cryogenic electron microscopy structures of a ribosome during the delivery of aminoacyl-tRNA by EF-Tu•GTP capture 33 ribosomal states, enabling visualization of the initial selection, proofreading and peptidyl transfer stages.

The catalytic subunit of DNA-PK autophosphorylates and contributes to ribosome biogenesis and haematopoiesis by binding to the U3 small nucleolar RNA.

Single-molecule dynamics reveal that the GTPase activity of eukaryotic initiation factor eIF5B serves as a kinetic checkpoint for the transition from translation initiation to elongation.

A time-resolved cryo-electron microscopy approach is used to visualize, at near-atomic resolution and on a sub-second timescale, short-lived intermediate states of a fundamental biomolecular reaction.

High-fidelity convergent total synthesis is used to produce Escherichia coli with a 61-codon synthetic genome that uses 59 codons to encode all of the canonical amino acids.

In mouse macrophages, a range of short and non-ATG-initiated open reading frames that can generate proteins are identified, one of which is shown to be essential for host immunity to enteric mucosal infection and inflammation.

Orthogonal ribosomes are engineered in which the two subunits are stapled together in a way that limits association with endogenous subunits in cells, enabling the evolution of new functionality in the orthogonal ribosome.

Neuronal stimulation induces protein translation of m⁶A-methylated neuronal mRNAs facilitated by YTHDF1, and this process contributes to learning and memory.

METTL3, the enzyme responsible for m⁶A modification, influences translation by interacting with eIF3h to mediate looping between the regions near the stop codon and 5′ cap of mRNA.

Cotranslational assembly is a prevalent mechanism for the formation of oligomeric complexes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, with one subunit serving as scaffold for the translation of partner subunits.

CPEB4 binds the mRNA of genes known to be associated with autism and shows an isoform imbalance in individuals with autism, and an equivalent imbalance in mice induces an autism-like phenotype.

A cryo-electron microscopy structure of the mammalian mitochondrial translation initiation complex reveals unique features that are necessary to initiate mitochondrial translation and highlights a possible membrane-targeting peptide.

The helicase Ded1p associates with the pre-initiation complex and influences translation from near-cognate initiation codons by controlling the levels of mRNA secondary structure in 5′ untranslated regions.

Enzymes that catalyse modifications of wobble uridine 34 tRNA are essential for the survival of melanoma cells that rely on HIF1α-dependent metabolism through codon-dependent regulation of the translation of HIF1A mRNA.

Cryo-EM structures of late intermediates in the assembly of human 40S ribosomal subunits help to define the principles by which immature rRNA conformations and ribosomal biogenesis factors shape the 40S maturation process.

ANKRD16 attenuates neurodegeneration induced by a mutation in the editing domain of alanyl tRNA synthetase by directly accepting mis-activated serine from the synthetase before transfer to the tRNA, establishing a new mechanism by which editing defects are prevented.

Loss of the ribosome-rescue factor Pelo in a subset of mouse epidermal stem cells results in hyperproliferation and altered differentiation of these cells.

The Cdc48 adaptor Vms1 is a peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase that cooperates with the ribosome quality control complex to catalyse the removal of nascent polypeptides from stalled ribosomes.

Mammalian mitochondria use folate-bound one-carbon units generated by the enzyme SHMT2 to methylate tRNA, and this modification is required for mitochondrial translation and thus oxidative phosphorylation.

A regulatory mechanism that limits the number of complete protein molecules that can be synthesized from a single mRNA molecule of the human AMD1 gene encoding adenosylmethionine decarboxylase 1.

A high-resolution structure of the human ribosome determined by cryo-electron microscopy visualizes numerous RNA modifications that are concentrated at functional sites with an extended shell, and suggests the possibility of designing more specific ribosome-targeting drugs.

A review of the recent developments in reprogramming the genetic code of cells and organisms to include non-canonical amino acids in precisely engineered proteins.

The large number of small, similarly sized proteins and the small number of heavy RNA molecules that make up a ribosome reduce the time required for reproduction.

The poxvirus vaccinia virus phosphorylates serine/threonine residues in the human small ribosomal subunit RACK1, converting it to a plant-like state to favour translation of poxvirus mRNAs

Structural ensembles of the 70S ribosome bound to cognate or near-cognate charged tRNAs in complex with EF-Tu illustrate the crucial role of the nucleotide G530 in decoding of mRNA, and demonstrate that translational fidelity results from direct control of GTPase by the decoding centre.

The structure of the bacterial ribosome in complex with the ArfA and the release factor RF2 shows how ArfA recruits RF2 to terminate translation of messenger RNAs that lack a stop codon in the ribosome.

The structure of the bacterial 70S ribosome in complex with ArfA, the release factor RF2, a short non-stop mRNA and a cognate P-site tRNA is presented, revealing how ArfA and RF2 facilitate alternative translation termination of the non-stop ribosomal complex using a stop-codon surrogate mechanism.

The structure of the bacterial ribosome stalled on a truncated mRNA in complex with ArfA and the release factor RF2 is presented, revealing how ArfA recruits RF2 to the ribosome and induces conformational changes within RF2 to enable translation termination in the absence of a stop codon.