The path of messenger RNA through the ribosome.
Yusupova, G.Z., Yusupov, M.M., Cate, J.H., Noller, H.F.(2001) Cell 106: 233-241
- PubMed: 11511350 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(01)00435-4
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
1JGO, 1JGP, 1JGQ - PubMed Abstract: 
Using X-ray crystallography, we have directly observed the path of mRNA in the 70S ribosome in Fourier difference maps at 7 A resolution. About 30 nucleotides of the mRNA are wrapped in a groove that encircles the neck of the 30S subunit. The Shine-Dalgarno helix is bound in a large cleft between the head and the back of the platform. At the interface, only about eight nucleotides (-1 to +7), centered on the junction between the A and P codons, are exposed, and bond almost exclusively to 16S rRNA. The mRNA enters the ribosome around position +13 to +15, the location of downstream pseudoknots that stimulate -1 translational frame shifting.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Center for Molecular Biology of RNA, Sinsheimer Laboratories, University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.