E Coli ribosomeWIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Ribosomes may not be indiscriminate translation factories, but may actively select the mRNAs with which they interact. Loss of ribosomal protein Rpl38 in mice alters the expression of a specific subset of patterning mRNAs -- resulting in tissue-patterning defects -- but leaves global translation unchanged. The finding represents a potential new type of post-transcriptional gene regulation.
N. Kondrashov et al., “Ribosome-mediated specificity in hox mRNA translation and vertebrate tissue patterning,” Cell, 145:383-97, 2011. Evaluated by Lucio Comai, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California; David Reid and Christopher Nicchitta, Duke University Medical Center; Dmitri Ermolenko and George Makhatadze, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst; Mihee Kim and Patrice Morin, National Inst on Aging; Jonathan R Warner, Albert Einstein Coll of Med; Weimin Zhong, Yale ...
