Although the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide (CHX) has been known for decades, its precise mechanism of action remains incompletely understood. The glutarimide portion of CHX is seen in a family of structurally related natural products including migrastatin, isomigrastatin and lactimidomycin (LTM). LTM, isomigrastatin and analogs were found to have a potent antiproliferative effect on tumor cell lines and selectively inhibit protein translation. A systematic comparative study of the effects of CHX and LTM on protein translation revealed both similarities and differences between the two inhibitors. Both LTM and CHX were found to block the translocation step in elongation. Footprinting experiments revealed protection of a single cytidine nucleotide (C3993) in the E-site of the 60S ribosomal subunit, defining a common binding pocket for both inhibitors in the ribosome. These results shed new light on the molecular mechanism of inhibition of translation elongation by both CHX and LTM.

Translation elongation factors facilitate protein synthesis by the ribosome. Previous studies identified two universally conserved translation elongation factors EF-Tu/eEF1A and EF-G/eEF2 that deliver aminoacyl-tRNAs to the ribosome and promote ribosomal translocation, respectively1. The factor eIF5A, the sole protein in eukaryotes and archaea containing the unusual amino acid hypusine [Nε-(4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl)lysine]2, was originally identified based on its ability to stimulate the yield (endpoint) of methionyl-puromycin synthesis, a model assay for first peptide bond synthesis thought to report on certain aspects of translation initiation3,4. Hypusine is required for eIF5A to associate with ribosomes5,6, and to stimulate methionyl-puromycin synthesis7. As eIF5A did not stimulate earlier steps of translation initiation8, and depletion of eIF5A in yeast only modestly impaired protein synthesis9, it was proposed that eIF5A function was limited to stimulating synthesis of the first peptide bond or that eIF5A functioned on only a subset of cellular mRNAs. However, the precise cellular role of eIF5A is unknown, and the protein has also been linked to mRNA decay, including the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway10,11, and to nucleocytoplasmic transport12,13. Here we show using molecular genetic and biochemical studies that eIF5A promotes translation elongation. Depletion or inactivation of eIF5A in yeast resulted in the accumulation of polysomes and an increase in ribosomal transit times. Addition of recombinant eIF5A from yeast, but not a derivative lacking hypusine, enhanced the rate of tripeptide synthesis in vitro. Moreover, inactivation of eIF5A mimicked the effects of the eEF2 inhibitor sordarin, indicating that eIF5A might function together with eEF2 to promote ribosomal translocation. As eIF5A is a structural homolog of the bacterial protein EF-P14,15, we propose that eIF5A/EF-P is a universally conserved translation elongation factor.

No-go decay (NGD) is one of several mRNA surveillance systems dedicated to the removal of defective mRNAs from the available pool. Two interacting factors, Dom34 and Hbs1, are genetically implicated in NGD in yeast. Here we show, using a reconstituted yeast translation system, that Dom34:Hbs1 interacts with the ribosome to promote subunit dissociation and peptidyl-tRNA drop-off. Our data further indicate that these recycling activities are shared by the homologous translation termination factor complex, eRF1:eRF3, suggesting a common ancestral function. As Dom34:Hbs1 activity exhibits no dependence on either peptide length or A-site codon identity, we propose that this quality-control system functions broadly to recycle ribosomes throughout the translation cycle whenever stalls occur.

Studies of yeast transcription have revealed the widespread distribution of intergenic RNA polymerase II transcripts. These cryptic unstable transcripts (CUTs) are rapidly degraded by the nuclear exosome. Yeast RNA binding proteins Nrd1 and Nab3 direct termination of sn/snoRNAs and recently have also been implicated in premature transcription termination of the NRD1 gene. In this paper, we show that Nrd1 and Nab3 are required for transcription termination of CUTs. In nrd1 and nab3 mutants, we observe 3'-extended transcripts originating from CUT promoters but failing to terminate through the Nrd1- and Nab3-directed pathway. Nrd1 and Nab3 colocalize to regions of the genome expressing antisense CUTs, and these transcripts require yeast nuclear exosome and TRAMP components for degradation. Dissection of a CUT terminator reveals a minimal element sufficient for Nrd1- and Nab3-directed termination. These results suggest that transcription termination of CUTs directed by Nrd1 and Nab3 is a prerequisite for rapid degradation by the nuclear exosome.

Chemical modifications of RNAs have long been established as key modulators of nonprotein-coding RNA structure and function in cells. There is a growing appreciation that messenger RNA (mRNA) sequences responsible for directing protein synthesis can also be posttranscriptionally modified. The enzymatic incorporation of mRNA modifications has many potential outcomes, including changing mRNA stability, protein recruitment, and translation. We tested how one of the most common modifications present in mRNA coding regions, pseudouridine (Ψ), impacts protein synthesis using a fully reconstituted bacterial translation system and human cells. Our work reveals that replacing a single uridine nucleotide with Ψ in an mRNA codon impedes amino acid addition and EF-Tu GTPase activation. A crystal structure of the Thermus thermophilus 70S ribosome with a tRNAPhe bound to a ΨUU codon in the A site supports these findings. We also find that the presence of Ψ can promote the low-level synthesis of multiple peptide products from a single mRNA sequence in the reconstituted translation system as well as human cells, and increases the rate of near-cognate Val-tRNAVal reacting on a ΨUU codon. The vast majority of Ψ moieties in mRNAs are found in coding regions, and our study suggests that one consequence of the ribosome encountering Ψ can be to modestly alter both translation speed and mRNA decoding.

Termination and ribosome recycling are essential processes in translation. In eukaryotes, a stop codon in the ribosomal A site is decoded by a ternary complex consisting of release factors eRF1 and guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound eRF3. After GTP hydrolysis, eRF3 dissociates, and ABCE1 can bind to eRF1-loaded ribosomes to stimulate peptide release and ribosomal subunit dissociation. Here, we present cryoelectron microscopic (cryo-EM) structures of a pretermination complex containing eRF1-eRF3 and a termination/prerecycling complex containing eRF1-ABCE1. eRF1 undergoes drastic conformational changes: its central domain harboring the catalytically important GGQ loop is either packed against eRF3 or swung toward the peptidyl transferase center when bound to ABCE1. Additionally, in complex with eRF3, the N-terminal domain of eRF1 positions the conserved NIKS motif proximal to the stop codon, supporting its suggested role in decoding, yet it appears to be delocalized in the presence of ABCE1. These results suggest that stop codon decoding and peptide release can be uncoupled during termination.

Numerous mechanisms have evolved to control the accuracy of translation, including a recently discovered retrospective quality control mechanism in bacteria. This quality control mechanism is sensitive to perturbations in the codon:anticodon interaction in the P site of the ribosome that trigger a dramatic loss of fidelity in subsequent tRNA and release factor selection events in the A site. These events ultimately lead to premature termination of translation in response to an initial miscoding error. In this work, we extend our investigations of this mechanism to an in vitro reconstituted Saccharomyces cerevisiae translation system. We report that yeast ribosomes do not respond to mismatches in the P site by loss of fidelity in subsequent substrate recognition events. We conclude that retrospective editing, as initially characterized in Escherichia coli, does not occur in S. cerevisiae. These results highlight potential mechanistic differences in the functional core of highly conserved ribosomes.

Background: eRF3 is an essential, conserved gene, whose essential function has remained obscure.Results: eRF3 increases multiple turnover peptide release rates beyond the level expected from its stimulation of single turnover krel.Conclusion: eRF3 increases the efficiency of eRF1-mediated peptide release at limiting concentrations of eRF1.Significance: This work contributes to our understanding of the essential in vivo role of eRF3.