Did you know that every cell in your body has tiny machines called ribosomes?
They’re like protein factories, reading the genetic instructions and building the proteins your body needs to function.
But even though they’re so important, scientists are still learning how they’re put together.
Recently, researchers at Rockefeller University have made exciting progress in figuring out how one part of the ribosome is built.
They’ve shared their findings in a scientific journal called Science, and it brings us closer to fully understanding how ribosomes are assembled.
“Thanks to our new research, we have a much clearer idea of how the larger part of a ribosome comes together in humans,” says Sebastian Klinge from Rockefeller.
“While there are still parts we don’t quite understand, we’re definitely on the right track.”
So what is a ribosome? Ribosomes were first found at Rockefeller around 70 years ago, and since then, scientists learned they are made of two parts.
There’s a small part, called 40S, which reads the RNA messages, and a larger part, 60S, which helps stick protein pieces together. But the exact steps in how these parts are made have remained a puzzle until now.
Klinge and his team have been using a technique called cryo-electron microscopy, which allows them to take incredibly detailed pictures of the ribosome as it’s being assembled. It’s like taking a series of snapshots of a building site as a house is built.
Klinge and other researchers worldwide have found more than 200 factors that help assemble ribosomes, influencing their modification, processing, and folding.
In this new study, Klinge and his colleagues focused on the larger part of the human ribosome (60S). They already knew from studies in yeast that this part comes together from two smaller pieces.
To learn more about this process in humans, they used new techniques involving a combination of genome editing and biochemistry to take super high-resolution images of the 60S part as it was being assembled.
The images reveal the involvement of several proteins and enzymes that help shape the RNA elements during the assembly of the 60S part. This work is a major step towards understanding how the larger part of a human ribosome is built.
“After sixty years, we’ve gone from knowing almost nothing to having a pretty good idea about how the 60S part of the ribosome is formed,” says Arnaud Vanden Broeck, who worked with Klinge on this project. But, he adds, “We still have a lot to learn.”
The discoveries from this research could help scientists studying diseases linked to changes in ribosomes.
They’ve even found connections between ribosome assembly and how cells process nutrients, suggesting that understanding ribosomes might need teamwork with experts in cell metabolism.
Klinge and Vanden Broeck are excited about their progress. “We’re not guessing anymore,” says Klinge.
“We can see in detail how the large part of the ribosome is built. It’s amazing to think we’re starting to understand what drives protein formation in all our cells.”
The study was published in the journal Science.
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