tailieunhanh - Báo cáo khoa học: The social life of ribosomal proteins

Ribosomal proteins hold a unique position in biology because their func-tion is so closely tied to the large rRNAs of the ribosomes in all kingdoms of life. Following the determination of the complete crystal structures of both the large and small ribosomal subunits from bacteria, the functional role of the proteins has often been overlooked when focusing on rRNAs as the catalysts of translation. | iFEBS Journal MINIREVIEW The social life of ribosomal proteins Ditlev E. Brodersen and Poul Nissen Centre for StructuralBiology Department of Molecular Biology University of Aarhus Denmark Keywords crystallography protein synthesis ribosomal proteins structure ribosome rRNA translation Correspondence D. E. Brodersen or P. Nissen Centre for StructuralBiology Department of Molecular Biology University of Aarhus Gustav Wieds Vej10c DK-8000 Arhus C Denmark E-mail deb@ or pn@ Received 25 January 2005 accepted 7 March 2005 doi Ribosomal proteins hold a unique position in biology because their function is so closely tied to the large rRNAs of the ribosomes in all kingdoms of life. Following the determination of the complete crystal structures of both the large and small ribosomal subunits from bacteria the functional role of the proteins has often been overlooked when focusing on rRNAs as the catalysts of translation. In this review we highlight some of the many known and important functions of ribosomal proteins both during translation on the ribosome and in a wider context. Introduction Ribosomes are complex macromolecular machines that are responsible for the production of every protein in every living cell 1 . Ribosomes are themselves built from the very molecules of life protein and RNA and ribosomal composition and structure and the interaction between the two types of building blocks within them have always fascinated researchers. In recent literature there has been renewed focus on rRNA as the main and perhaps only catalyst in the ribosome - a development which in the minds of many in the field has left ribosomal proteins in the dark as merely glue . In this review we highlight some of the many important biological roles of ribosomal proteins apart from being RNA-glue and show that they indeed seem to have a social life after all. Until the year 2000 ribosomal protein structure and interaction with rRNA were mainly