A mechanical explanation of RNA pseudoknot function in programmed ribosomal frameshifting.

ABSTRACT: The triplet-based genetic code requires that translating ribosomes maintain the reading frame of a messenger RNA faithfully to ensure correct protein synthesis. However, in programmed -1 ribosomal frameshifting, a specific subversion of frame maintenance takes place, wherein the ribosome is forced to shift one nucleotide backwards into an overlapping reading frame and to translate an entirely new sequence of amino acids. This process is indispensable in the replication of numerous viral pathogens, including HIV and the coronavirus associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome, and is also exploited in the expression of several cellular genes. Frameshifting is promoted by an mRNA signal composed of two essential elements: a heptanucleotide 'slippery' sequence and an adjacent mRNA second

SUBMITTER: Namy O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7094908 | biostudies-literature | 2006 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature