Ribosomal Structure (ribosomal + structure)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


CANu1, a novel nucleolar protein, accumulated on centromere in response to DNA damage

GENES TO CELLS, Issue 8 2008
Choong-Ryoul Sihn
Single nucleotide polymorphism is known to be an ideal marker to detect human diseases. We isolated a novel human gene, to be called as CANu1, by the large-scale genome-wide association analysis to screen specific Single nucleotide polymorphisms in colon cancer. It is mapped to chromosome 14q11.2 and its transcript contains a 948-nt open reading frame encoding a protein of 315 aa. Here, we observed that green fluorescence protein (GFP)-fused CANu1 protein was localized to nucleoli and the C-termini of CANu1 protein were essential for its localization. Moreover, the silencing of the CANu1 gene by siRNA caused ribosomal stress leading to G1 cell cycle arrest, the induction of p53 protein, and the translocation of B23 protein. In addition, CANu1 protein was translocated from nucleolus to nuclear foci in response to UV damage. Interestingly, the mobility of a GFP-CANu1 protein in the UV damaged cells was two times faster than non-irradiated cells. Taken together, we report that a novel nucleolar protein, CANu1, is essential to maintain ribosomal structure and responsive upon UV damage. [source]


ANALYSIS OF EXPRESSED SEQUENCE TAGS (ESTS) FROM THE POLAR DIATOM FRAGILARIOPSIS CYLINDRUS,

JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 1 2006
Thomas Mock
Analysis of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) was performed to gain insights into cold adaptation in the polar diatom Fragilariopsis cylindrus Grunow. The EST library was generated from RNA isolated 5 days after F. cylindrus cells were shifted from approximately +5° C to ,1.8°C. A total of 1376 ESTs were sequenced from a non-normalized cDNA library and assembled into 996 tentative unique sequences. About 27% of the ESTs displayed similarity (tBLASTX, e -value of ,10,4) to predicted proteins in the centric diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana Hasle & Heindal. Eleven additional algae and plant data bases were used for annotation of sequences not covered by Thalassiosira sequences (7%). Most of the ESTs were similar to genes encoding proteins responsible for translation, ribosomal structure, and biogenesis (3%), followed by genes encoding proteins for amino acid transport and metabolism and post-translational modifications. Interestingly, 66% of all the EST sequences from F. cylindrus displayed no similarity (e -value ,10,4) to sequences from the 12 non-redundant databases. Even 6 of the 10 strong to moderately expressed sequences in this EST library could not be identified. Adaptation of F. cylindrus to freezing temperatures of seawater may require a complex protein metabolism and possibly also genes, which were highly expressed but still unknown. However, it could also mean that due to low temperatures, there might have been a stronger pressure to adapt amino acid sequences, making it more difficult to identify these unknown sequences and/or that there are still few protist sequences available for comparison. [source]


Eukaryotic ribosomal proteins lacking a eubacterial counterpart: important players in ribosomal function

MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2006
John Dresios
Summary The ribosome is a macromolecular machine responsible for protein synthesis in all organisms. Despite the enormous progress in studies on the structure and function of prokaryotic ribosomes, the respective molecular details of the mechanism by which the eukaryotic ribosome and associated factors construct a polypeptide accurately and rapidly still remain largely unexplored. Eukaryotic ribosomes possess more RNA and a higher number of proteins than eubacterial ribosomes. As the tertiary structure and basic function of the ribosomes are conserved, what is the contribution of these additional elements? Elucidation of the role of these components should provide clues to the mechanisms of translation in eukaryotes and help unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying the differences between eukaryotic and eubacterial ribosomes. This article focuses on a class of eukaryotic ribosomal proteins that do not have a eubacterial homologue. These proteins play substantial roles in ribosomal structure and function, and in mRNA binding and nascent peptide folding. The role of these proteins in human diseases and viral expression, as well as their potential use as targets for antiviral agents is discussed. [source]


Tag-mediated fractionation of yeast ribosome populations proves the monomeric organization of the eukaryotic ribosomal stalk structure

MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2003
Esther Guarinos
Summary The analysis of the not well understood composition of the stalk, a key ribosomal structure, in eukaryotes having multiple 12 kDa P1/P2 acidic protein components has been approached using these proteins tagged with a histidine tail at the C-terminus. Tagged Saccharomyces cerevisiae ribosomes, which contain two P1 proteins (P1, and P1,) and two P2 proteins (P2, and P2,), were fractionated by affinity chromatography and their stalk composition was determined. Different yeast strains expressing one or two tagged proteins and containing either a complete or a defective stalk were used. No indication of protein dimers was found in the tested strains. The results are only compatible with a stalk structure containing a single copy of each one of the four 12 kDa proteins per ribosome. Ribosomes having an incomplete stalk are found in wild-type cells. When one of the four proteins is missing, the ribosomes do not carry the three remaining proteins simultaneously, containing only two of them distributed in pairs made of one P1 and one P2. Ribosomes can carry two, one or no acidic protein pairs. The P1,/P2, and P1,/P2, pairs are preferentially found in the ribosome, but they are not essential either for stalk assembly or function. [source]