Following translation by single ribosomes one codon at a time

Jin- Der Wen, Laura Lancaster, Courtney Hodges, Ana-Carolina Zeri, Shige H. Yoshimura, Harry F. Noller, Carlos Bustamante and Ignacio Tinoco ()
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Jin- Der Wen: University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Laura Lancaster: Cell, and Developmental Biology, and Center for Molecular Biology of RNA, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
Courtney Hodges: Biophysics Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Ana-Carolina Zeri: Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory, Caixa Postal 6192, Campinas SP 13083-970, Brazil
Shige H. Yoshimura: Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan
Harry F. Noller: Cell, and Developmental Biology, and Center for Molecular Biology of RNA, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
Carlos Bustamante: University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Ignacio Tinoco: University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA

Nature, 2008, vol. 452, issue 7187, 598-603

Abstract: Abstract We have followed individual ribosomes as they translate single messenger RNA hairpins tethered by the ends to optical tweezers. Here we reveal that translation occurs through successive translocation-and-pause cycles. The distribution of pause lengths, with a median of 2.8 s, indicates that at least two rate-determining processes control each pause. Each translocation step measures three bases—one codon—and occurs in less than 0.1 s. Analysis of the times required for translocation reveals, surprisingly, that there are three substeps in each step. Pause lengths, and thus the overall rate of translation, depend on the secondary structure of the mRNA; the applied force destabilizes secondary structure and decreases pause durations, but does not affect translocation times. Translocation and RNA unwinding are strictly coupled ribosomal functions.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature06716

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