How Protein-Making Machine Bends Without Breaking
Scientists from several institutions including the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. They derived atomic-scale resolution structures of the cell's protein-making machine, the ribosome, at key stages of its job.The ability to bend but not break comes from this hinge within transfer RNA, which allows it to bend as much as 70 degrees when it passes through the ribosome during protein synthesis. The structures, developed primarily at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source, reveal that the ribosome's ability to rotate an incredible amount without falling apart is due to the never-before-seen springiness of molecular widgets that hold it together.
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