单分子荧光共振能量转移技术在核糖体移位研究中的进展

核糖体是蛋白质的"合成工厂",也是临床上多种抗菌药物的作用靶点,因此,深入理解细菌核糖体的蛋白质翻译机制意义重大.蛋白质翻译是通过多步骤相互协调、多组分精细配合来实现高保真和精确调控.核糖体在mRNA上的移位作为翻译过程中最重要的事件之一,需要核糖体大规模的构象重排以及tRNA2-mRNA沿着核糖体的精确移动.在细菌中,移位是由延伸因子EF-G催化GTP水解来驱动的.近年来,单分子荧光共振能量技术(smFRET)的发展使得人们可以探究单个tRNA分子移位的动力学过程并实时观测核糖体的构象变化.本文首先介绍了smFRET技术的原理及特点,对其在核糖体结构动态及tRNA移位研究中的应用进行了较为系统的总结,并对其应用前景进行了展望.

smFRET Study Progress in The Dynamics of Ribosome Translocation

Ribosome is a protein translation machine and the target of a variety of clinical antimicrobial drugs. Therefore, in-depth understanding of bacterial protein translation mechanism is of great significance. Translation consists of initiation, elongation, termination, and recycling, coordinating to achieve high fidelity and precise regulation. Translocation is one of the most important events in the process of translation, which requires large conformational changes of the ribosome as well as the precise movement of tRNA2-mRNA through ribosome. In bacteria, translocation is driven by elongation factor G that catalyzes the hydrolysis of GTP. The recent development in single molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) makes it possible to study tRNA movements and observe the conformational dynamics of the ribosome in real time. Here, we review the recent smFRET study progress in the dynamics of ribosome translocation. These advances will provide much insights into the molecular details and dynamics of the ribosome complexes, shedding new light on the process of translocation.