Eukaryotic translation initiation factors and regulators

Significant progress has been made over the past several years on structural studies of the eukaryotic translation initiation factors that facilitate the assembly of a translation-competent ribosome at the initiation codon of an mRNA. These structural studies have revealed the repeated use of a set of common structural folds, highlighted the evolutionary conservation of the translation apparatus, and provided insight into the mechanism and regulation of cellular and viral protein synthesis.