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Structural Role Of Pseudouridines In The Peptidyl Transferase Center Of Human 28s Ribosomal Rna, Chris Mart

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The human ribosome is an RNA-protein complex responsible for protein synthesis in the cell. Crystal structures of bacterial ribosomes solved to date depict no protein sidechains within the catalytic core, or peptidyl transferase center (PTC). This region of the human ribosome comprises approximately 230 highly conserved nucleotides. Notably, several of the uridine bases clustered within the human PTC are post-transcriptionally modified to pseudouridines, as compared with bacterial analogues. Pseudouridines are base-rotated uridines, linked to their sugar moieties through C5-C1' linkages, affording additional hydrogen-bond donor groups at the N1 position of their rings. A connection was recently made between the absence …