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Biochemistry Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Brigham Young University

Theses and Dissertations

Theses/Dissertations

2009

SmpB

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Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry

The Role Of Smpb In The Early Stages Of Trans-Translation, Deanna June Cazier Jul 2009

The Role Of Smpb In The Early Stages Of Trans-Translation, Deanna June Cazier

Theses and Dissertations

Ribosomes stall on defective messenger RNA transcripts in eubacteria. Without a mechanism to release stalled ribosomes, these cells would die. Transfer-messenger RNA (tmRNA) and small protein B (SmpB) reactivate stalled ribosomes in a process known as trans-translation. Together, tmRNA and SmpB mimic alanyl-tRNA, entering the A site of stalled ribosomes and accepting transfer of the stalled polypeptide. A portion of tmRNA is then positioned as a template for the ribosome to resume translating. The tmRNA open reading frame encodes a proteolysis tag to mark the aberrant polypeptide for degradation and a stop codon to release the ribosome. How are tmRNA …