"Importance of potassium ions for ribosome structure and function revealed by long-wavelength X-ray diffraction"Rozov A., Khusainov I., El Omari K., Duman R., Mykhaylyk V., Yusupov M., Westhof E., Wagner A., Yusupova G.Nature Communications (2019) 10: 2519doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10409-4

In collaboration with the Yusupov lab at IGBMC, Urania publishes today an article in Nature entitled "Accuracy mechanism of eukaryotic ribosome translocation" describing the 3.2-Å-resolution X-ray structure of the eukaryotic 80S ribosome in a translocation-intermediate state containing mRNA, the elongation factor eEF2 and tRNAs. The model demonstrates how the decoding centre releases a codon–anticodon duplex, allowing its movement on the ribosome. This experimental structure suggests how the 80S ribosome, eEF2 and tRNAs undergo large-scale molecular reorganizations to ensure maintenance of the mRNA reading frame during the complex process of translocation.

This article demonstrates Urania's scientists' capacity to solve high-resolution structures of eukaryotic ribosome complex, to understand at the molecular level the mechanism of the eukaryotic ribosome and to make use of this knowledge to design using a structure-based approach new drug candidates modulating the human ribosome.