Diversity and Similarity of Termination and Ribosome Rescue in Bacterial, Mitochondrial, and Cytoplasmic Translation

When a ribosome encounters the stop codon of an mRNA, it terminates translation, releases the newly made protein, and is recycled to initiate translation on a new mRNA. Termination is a highly dynamic process in which release factors (RF1 and RF2 in bacteria; eRF1 center dot eRF3 center dot GTP in eukaryotes) coordinate peptide release with large-scale molecular rearrangements of the ribosome. Ribosomes stalled on aberrant mRNAs are rescued and recycled by diverse bacterial, mitochondrial, or cytoplasmic quality control mechanisms. These are catalyzed by rescue factors with peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase activity (bacterial ArfA center dot RF2 and ArfB, mitochondrial ICT1 and mtRF-R, and cytoplasmic Vms1), that are distinct from each other and from release factors. Nevertheless, recent structural studies demonstrate a remarkable similarity between translation termination and ribosome rescue mechanisms. This review describes how these pathways rely on inherent ribosome dynamics, emphasizing the active role of the ribosome in all translation steps.

Automated summary

Studies have shown significant similarities between translation termination and ribosome rescue mechanisms at the molecular level, both of which rely on the dynamic nature of ribosomes, highlighting the active role of ribosomes in all translation steps.