Elongation factor P (EF-P) is a translation factor of unknown function that has been implicated in a great variety of cellular processes. Here, we show that EF-P prevents ribosome from stalling during synthesis of proteins containing consecutive prolines, such as PPG, PPP, or longer proline strings, in natural and engineered model proteins. EF-P promotes peptide-bond formation and stabilizes the peptidyl-transfer RNA in the catalytic center of the ribosome. EF-P is posttranslationally modified by a hydroxylated β-lysine attached to a lysine residue. The modification enhances the catalytic proficiency of the factor mainly by increasing its affinity to the ribosome. We propose that EF-P and its eukaryotic homolog, eIF5A, are essential for the synthesis of a subset of proteins containing proline stretches in all cells.

The ribosome catalyzes peptide bond formation between peptidyl-tRNA in the P site and aminoacyl-tRNA in the A site. Here, we show that the nature of the C-terminal amino acid residue in the P-site peptidyl-tRNA strongly affects the rate of peptidyl transfer. Depending on the C-terminal amino acid of the peptidyl-tRNA, the rate of reaction with the small A-site substrate puromycin varied between 100 and 0.14 s ؊1 , regardless of the tRNA identity. The reactivity decreased in the order Lys ‫؍‬ Arg > Ala > Ser > Phe ‫؍‬ Val > Asp Ͼ Ͼ Pro, with Pro being by far the slowest. However, when Phe-tRNA Phe was used as A-site substrate, the rate of peptide bond formation with any peptidyl-tRNA was ϳ7 s ؊1 , which corresponds to the rate of binding of Phe-tRNA Phe to the A site (accommodation). Because accommodation is rate-limiting for peptide bond formation, the reaction rate is uniform for all peptidyltRNAs, regardless of the variations of the intrinsic chemical reactivities. On the other hand, the 50-fold increase in the reaction rate for peptidyl-tRNA ending with Pro suggests that full-length aminoacyl-tRNA in the A site greatly accelerates peptide bond formation.The enzymatic activity of the ribosome is to catalyze peptide bond formation. During the peptidyl transfer reaction, the ␣-amino group of aminoacyl-tRNA bound to the A site of the ribosome attacks the ester bond of peptidyl-tRNA in the P site, which results in peptidyl-tRNA extended by one amino acid in the A site and deacylated tRNA in the P site. The tRNA substrates are aligned in the active center of the ribosome by interactions of their CCA ends with 23 S rRNA bases (1-3). The ribosome lowers the activation entropy of the reaction (4, 5) by orienting the reacting groups precisely relative to each other (2, 3), providing an electrostatic environment that reduces the free energy of forming the transition state, shielding the reaction against bulk water (6, 7), or a combination of these effects (8).The peptidyl transfer reaction is modulated by conformational changes at the active site (3, 8 -10) as well as by the nature of the substrates. Rapid peptide bond formation requires fulllength tRNA in both A and P sites, and the reaction rate is influenced by the length of the tRNA fragments when model substrates are used (8, 10 -14). The reaction rate is also influenced by the nature of the amino acid side chain of the A-site substrate (13,(15)(16)(17), but is independent of the nucleophilicity of the attacking amino group in model substrates (18). Moreover, the length of the peptidyl chain and the nature of the C-terminal amino acid of the peptidyl-tRNA in the P site seem to have an effect (10,12,13,19). Early studies with 50 S ribosomal subunits indicated that efficient peptidyl transfer was observed with 3Ј-terminal RNase T1 fragments of N-acetylArg-tRNA Arg and fMet-tRNA fMet as model P-site substrates and an analog of aminoacyl-tRNA, puromycin (Pmn 4 ; O-methyltyrosine linked to N 6 -dimethyladenosine via an amide bond), as A-site substrate (20). In contrast,...

Ribosomes synthesizing proteins containing consecutive proline residues become stalled and require rescue via the action of uniquely modified translation elongation factors, EF-P in bacteria, or archaeal/eukaryotic a/eIF5A. To date, no structures exist of EF-P or eIF5A in complex with translating ribosomes stalled at polyproline stretches, and thus structural insight into how EF-P/eIF5A rescue these arrested ribosomes has been lacking. Here we present cryo-EM structures of ribosomes stalled on proline stretches, without and with modified EF-P. The structures suggest that the favored conformation of the polyproline-containing nascent chain is incompatible with the peptide exit tunnel of the ribosome and leads to destabilization of the peptidyl-tRNA. Binding of EF-P stabilizes the P-site tRNA, particularly via interactions between its modification and the CCA end, thereby enforcing an alternative conformation of the polyproline-containing nascent chain, which allows a favorable substrate geometry for peptide bond formation.

Speed and accuracy of protein synthesis are fundamental parameters for the fitness of living cells, the quality control of translation, and the evolution of ribosomes. The ribosome developed complex mechanisms that allow for a uniform recognition and selection of any cognate aminoacyl-tRNA (aa-tRNA) and discrimination against any near-cognate aa-tRNA, regardless of the nature or position of the mismatch. This review describes the principles of the selection-kinetic partitioning and induced fit-and discusses the relationship between speed and accuracy of decoding, with a focus on bacterial translation. The translational machinery apparently has evolved towards high speed of translation at the cost of fidelity.Keywords: ribosome; protein synthesis; translation fidelity; tRNA; error frequency; mRNA decoding SPEED AND ACCURACY OF TRANSLATIONProtein synthesis on the ribosome is a fundamentally important process that consumes a large part of the energy resources of the cell. Ribosomes are universal macromolecular machines built of two subunits, the small subunit (30S subunit in bacteria), where mRNA decoding takes place, and the large subunit (50S subunit in bacteria), which harbours the catalytic site for peptide bond formation. The decoding and peptidyl transferase centres consist of RNA, suggesting that the ribosome originates from the RNA world. Intuitively, one would expect that the ribosome has evolved to produce proteins with maximum speed and accuracy at minimum metabolic cost. The aim of this review is to discuss the mechanisms by which this is achieved and potential limits to the optimization of the ribosome performance. Protein synthesis entails four major phases: initiation, elongation, termination and recycling. During initiation, the ribosome selects an mRNA and, assisted by initiation factors, places the initiator tRNA on the appropriate start codon in the P site. In the subsequent elongation phase, amino acids are added to the growing peptide in a cyclic process. Aminoacyl-tRNAs (aa-tRNAs) enter the ribosome in a tight complex with elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) and guanosine-5 0 -triphosphate (GTP). Following the recognition of the codon by the anticodon of aa-tRNA and GTP hydrolysis by EF-Tu, aa-tRNA is accommodated in the A site of the 50S subunit and takes part in peptide bond formation. The rate of protein elongation in bacteria is between 4 and 22 amino acids per second at 378C [1-5]; thus, a protein of an average length of 330 amino acids [6] is completed in about 10-80 s. The times required for initiation, termination and ribosome recycling (around 1 s each [3]) are short enough to make elongation rate-limiting for protein synthesis [7]. Translation of a particular codon depends on both the nature and abundance of the respective tRNAs, particularly on the non-random use of synonymous codons and the availability of the respective isoacceptor tRNAs [8]. The overall rate of translation is limited by the codon-specific rates of cognate ternary complex delivery to the A site and is further attenuated ...

The speed and accuracy of protein synthesis are fundamental parameters for understanding the fitness of living cells, the quality control of translation, and the evolution of ribosomes. In this study, we analyse the speed and accuracy of the decoding step under conditions reproducing the high speed of translation in vivo. We show that error frequency is close to 10 À3 , consistent with the values measured in vivo. Selectivity is predominantly due to the differences in k cat values for cognate and near-cognate reactions, whereas the intrinsic affinity differences are not used for tRNA discrimination. Thus, the ribosome seems to be optimized towards high speed of translation at the cost of fidelity. Competition with near-and non-cognate ternary complexes reduces the rate of GTP hydrolysis in the cognate ternary complex, but does not appreciably affect the rate-limiting tRNA accommodation step. The GTP hydrolysis step is crucial for the optimization of both the speed and accuracy, which explains the necessity for the trade-off between the two fundamental parameters of translation.