Messenger RNA (mRNA) translation is a tightly controlled process that is integral to gene expression. It features intricate and dynamic interactions of the small and large subunits of the ribosome with mRNAs, aided by multiple auxiliary factors during distinct initiation, elongation and termination phases. The recently developed ribosome profiling method can generate transcriptome-wide surveys of translation and its regulation. Ribosome profiling records the footprints of fully assembled ribosomes along mRNAs and thus primarily interrogates the elongation phase of translation. Importantly, it does not monitor multiple substeps of initiation and termination that involve complexes between the small ribosomal subunit (SSU) and mRNA. Here we describe a related method, termed \'translation complex profile sequencing\' (TCP-seq), that is uniquely capable of recording positions of any type of ribosome-mRNA complex transcriptome-wide. It uses fast covalent fixation of translation complexes in live cells, followed by RNase footprinting of translation intermediates and their separation into complexes involving either the full ribosome or the SSU. The footprints derived from each type of complex are then deep-sequenced separately, generating native distribution profiles during the elongation, as well as the initiation and termination stages of translation. We provide the full TCP-seq protocol for Saccharomyces cerevisiae liquid suspension culture, including a data analysis pipeline. The protocol takes ∼3 weeks to complete by a researcher who is well acquainted with standard molecular biology techniques and who has some experience in ultracentrifugation and the preparation of RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) libraries. Basic Bash and UNIX/Linux command skills are required to use the bioinformatics tools provided.

Despite the fact that ADP-ribosylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (EF2) leads to inhibition of protein synthesis, the mechanism by which ADP-ribosylated EF2 (ADPR•EF2) causes this inhibition remains controversial. Here, we applied modeling approaches to investigate the consequences of various modes of ADPR•EF2 inhibitory actions on the two coupled processes, the polypeptide chain elongation and ADP-ribosylation of EF2. Modeling of experimental data indicates that ADPR•EF2 fully blocks the late-phase translocation of tRNAs; but the impairment in the translocation upstream process, mainly the GTP-dependent factor binding with the pretranslocation ribosome and/or the guanine nucleotide exchange in EF2, is responsible for the overall inhibition kinetics. The reduced ADPR•EF2-ribosome association spares the ribosome to bind and shield native EF2 against toxin attack, thereby deferring the inhibition of protein synthesis inhibition and inactivation of EF2. Minimum association with the ribosome also keeps ADPR•EF2 in an accessible state for toxins to catalyze the reverse reaction when nicotinamide becomes available. Our work underscores the importance of unveiling the interactions between ADPR•EF2 and the ribosome, and argues against that toxins inhibit protein synthesis through converting native EF2 to a competitive inhibitor to actively disable the ribosome.

Ribosomes synthesize proteins according to the information encoded in mRNA. During this process, both the incoming amino acid and the nascent peptide are bound to tRNA molecules. Three binding sites for tRNA in the ribosome are known: the A-site for aminoacyl-tRNA, the P-site for peptidyl-tRNA and the E-site for the deacylated tRNA leaving the ribosome. Here, we present a study of Escherichia coli ribosomes with the E-site binding destabilized by mutation C2394G of the 23S rRNA. Expression of the mutant 23S rRNA in vivo caused increased frameshifting and stop codon readthrough. The progression of these ribosomes through the ribosomal elongation cycle in vitro reveals ejection of deacylated tRNA during the translocation step or shortly after. E-site compromised ribosomes can undergo translocation, although in some cases it is less efficient and results in a frameshift. The mutation affects formation of the P/E hybrid site and leads to a loss of stimulation of the multiple turnover GTPase activity of EF-G by deacylated tRNA bound to the ribosome.

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Substitution Asp138-->Asn changes the substrate specificity of elongation factor (EF) Tu from GTP to XTP [Hwang & Miller (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 13081-13085]. This mutated EF-Tu (EF-Tu D138N) was used to show that 2 XTP molecules are hydrolyzed for each elongation cycle [Weijland & Parmeggiani (1993) Science 259, 1311-1313]. Here we extend the study of the properties of this EF-Tu mutant and its function in the elongation process. In poly(U)-directed poly(phenylalanine) synthesis, the number of peptide chains synthesized using EF-Tu D138N.XTP was 30% higher than with EF-Tu wild type (wt).GTP. However, since in the former case the average peptide chain length was correspondingly reduced, the number of the residues incorporated turned out to be nearly the same in both systems. The K\'d values of the XTP and XDP complexes of EF-Tu D138N were similar to those of the GTP and GDP complexes of EF-Tu wt. The extent of leucine misincorporation and the kirromycin effect were also comparable to those in the EF-Tu wt/GTP system. The hydrolysis of two XTP molecules, very likely as part of two EF-Tu D138N.XTP complexes, for each elongation cycle was found to be independent of (i) MgCl2 concentration, (ii) ribosome concentration, and (iii) temperature (5-40 degrees C). With rate-limiting amounts of XTP the K\'m of its XTPase activity corresponded to the K\'m for XTP of poly(phenylalanine) synthesis (0.3-0.6 microM).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

To determine the contributions of preexisting fatty acid, de novo synthesis, and chain elongation in long-chain fatty acid (LCFA) synthesis, the synthesis of LCFAs, palmitate (16:0), stearate (18:0), arachidate (20:0), behenate (22:0), and lignocerate (24:0), in the epidermis, liver, and spinal cord was determined using deuterated water and mass isotopomer distribution analysis in hairless mice and Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were given 4% deuterated water for 5 days or 8 wk in their drinking water. Blood was withdrawn at the end of these times for the determination of deuterium enrichment, and the animals were killed to isolate the various tissues for lipid extraction for the determination of the mass isotopomer distributions. The mass isotopomer distributions in LCFA were incompatible with synthesis from a single pool of primer. The synthesis of palmitate, stearate, arachidate, behenate, and lignocerate followed the expected biochemical pathways for the synthesis of LCFAs. On average, three deuterium atoms were incorporated for every addition of an acetyl unit. The isotopomer distribution resulting from chain elongation and de novo synthesis can be described by the linear combination of two binomial distributions. The proportions of preexisting, chain elongation, and de novo-synthesized fatty acids as a percentage of the total fatty acids were determined using multiple linear regression analysis. Fractional synthesis was found to vary, depending on the tissue type and the fatty acid, from 47 to 87%. A substantial fraction (24-40%) of the newly synthesized molecules was derived from chain elongation of unlabeled (recycled) palmitate.

A photo-reactive diazirine derivative was attached to the 2-thiocytidine residue at position 32 of tRNA(Arg)I from Escherichia coli. This modified tRNA was bound under suitable conditions to the A, P or E site of E.coli ribosomes. After photo-activation of the diazirine label, the sites of cross-linking to 16S rRNA were identified by our standard procedures. Each of the three tRNA binding sites showed a characteristic pattern of cross-linking. From tRNA at the A site, a major cross-link was observed to position 1378 of the 16S RNA, and a minor one to position 936. From the P site, there were major cross-links to positions 693 and to 957 and/or 966, as well as a minor cross-link to position 1338. The E site bound tRNA showed major cross-links to position 693 (identical to that from the P site) and to positions 1376/1378 (similar, but not identical, to the cross-link observed from the A site). Immunological analysis of the concomitantly cross-linked ribosomal proteins indicated that S7 was the major target of cross-linking from all three tRNA sites, with S11 as a minor product. The results are discussed in terms of the overall topography of the decoding region of the 30S ribosomal subunit.

We have used purified RNA polymerase from Mycobacterium phlei to study the role of polyamines in mycobacterial transcription. Both initiation and elongation phases of the process were affected biphasically by polyamines. Interaction of polyamines with DNA template plays an important role in transcription modulation. Our studies emphasize that polyamines can exert a regulatory control on mycobacterial transcription.

Protein synthesis in Escherichia coli mutants that differ from one another in mutations which impart streptomycin resistance was investigated by the application of hydrostatic pressure. Increased pressure resistance was only observed in mutants which exhibited reduced rates of peptide chain elongation. These findings indicate that the major effect of pressure on protein synthesis in E. coli may involve the S12 ribosomal protein.

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