Primary Citation of Related Structures: 6XU6, 6XU7, 6XU8
PubMed Abstract:
Ribosomes have long been thought of as homogeneous macromolecular machines, but recent evidence suggests they are heterogeneous and could be specialised to regulate translation. Here, we have characterised ribosomal protein heterogeneity across 4 tissues of Drosophila melanogaster. We find that testes and ovaries contain the most heterogeneous ribosome populations, which occurs through a combination of paralog-enrichment and paralog-switching. We have solved structures of ribosomes purified from in vivo tissues by cryo-EM, revealing differences in precise ribosomal arrangement for testis and ovary 80S ribosomes. Differences in the amino acid composition of paralog pairs and their localisation on the ribosome exterior indicate paralog-switching could alter the ribosome surface, enabling different proteins to regulate translation. One testis-specific paralog-switching pair is also found in humans, suggesting this is a conserved site of ribosome heterogeneity. Overall, this work allows us to propose that mRNA translation might be regulated in the gonads through ribosome heterogeneity, providing a potential means of ribosome specialisation.
Organizational Affiliation:
School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
LeedsOmics, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK.
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