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RNA modifications are key regulators of RNA functions. Here, the authors identify METTL8 as the enzyme installing m3C32 in mitochondrial tRNAThr/Ser(UCN). Lack of these modifications affects tRNA structure and impairs mitochondrial translation.

Early steps of large 60S ribosomal subunit biogenesis are not well understood. Here, the authors combine biochemical experiments with protein-RNA crosslinking and mass spectrometry to show that the RNA helicase Dbp7 is key player during early 60S ribosomal assembly. Dbp7 regulates a series of events driving compaction of domain V/VI in early pre60S ribosomal particles.

The guided entry of tail-anchored proteins (GET) pathway assists in the delivery of such proteins to the ER. Here, the authors reveal that the pathway components Get4/5 probe a region near the ribosomal exit tunnel. Upon emergence of a client protein, Get4/5 recruits Sgt2 and initiates the targeting phase of the pathway.

The DNA helicase ASCC3 is the largest subunit of the activating signal co-integrator complex (ASCC), and its DNA unwinding activity is required for the AlkBH3/ASCC-dependent DNA de-alkylation repair pathway. Here, the authors identify a minimal stable complex of the two ASCC subunits ASCC2 and ASCC3, determine the complex crystal structure and further show that cancer-related mutations at the interface between both proteins reduce ASCC2–ASCC3 affinity.

Pre-ribosomes undergo numerous structural rearrangements during their assembly. Here the authors identify the binding sites of three essential RNA helicases on pre-ribosomal particles, enabling them to provide insights into the structural and compositional changes that occur during biogenesis of the large ribosomal subunit.