Kinetics of initiating polypeptide elongation in an IRES-dependent system

The intergenic IRES of Cricket Paralysis Virus (CrPV-IRES) forms a tight complex with 80S ribosomes capable of initiating the cell-free synthesis of complete proteins in the absence of initiation factors. Such synthesis raises the question of what effect the necessary IRES dissociation from the tRNA binding sites, and ultimately from all of the ribosome, has on the rates of initial peptide elongation steps as nascent peptide is formed. Here we report the first results measuring rates of reaction for the initial cycles of IRES-dependent elongation. Our results demonstrate that 1) the first two cycles of elongation proceed much more slowly than subsequent cycles, 2) these reduced rates arise from slow pseudo-translocation and translocation steps, and 3) the retarding effect of ribosome-bound IRES on protein synthesis is largely overcome following translocation of tripeptidyl-tRNA. Our results also provide a straightforward approach to detailed mechanistic characterization of many aspects of eukaryotic polypeptide elongation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13429.001
eLife digest Inside cells, machines called ribosomes make proteins using instructions carried by molecules of messenger RNA (or mRNA). The ribosomes bind to the mRNA and then move along it to assemble the proteins in a process called translation. The first step of translation – when the ribosome binds to the mRNA – is known as initiation. In human and other eukaryotic cells, initiation mainly occurs through a mechanism that requires many proteins called initiation factors to recruit the ribosome to a cap structure formed at one end of the mRNA. When viruses infect cells, they hijack the ribosomes of the host cell to produce large quantities of viral proteins. However, unlike their host cells, many viruses use a different pathway to initiate translation of their mRNAs. The mRNAs of these viruses have regions known an internal ribosome entry sites (IRESs) that host cell ribosomes can bind to instead. After initiation, the ribosome progressively assembles the building blocks of proteins (amino acids) into a chain until the new protein is complete. Molecules called transfer RNAs bind to individual amino acids and bring them to the ribosome. Previous research has shown that, prior to initiation, IRESs on Cricket Paralysis Virus mRNAs bind to the ribosome and occupy sites where transfer RNAs would normally bind. However, it was not clear how this affects the elongation process. Zhang et al. now address this question using a cell-free system that allowed them to recreate and observe translation outside of the normal cell environment. Zhang et al. found that the binding of an IRES to a ribosome slows down the early steps of elongation. A likely explanation for this is that the IRES elements have to be displaced from the ribosome before the incoming transfer RNAs can occupy the three tRNA sites. However, as elongation progresses, the effects of the IRES elements are overcome and the pace of elongation increases significantly. Zhang et al.’s findings provide a convenient approach that could be used for future studies of elongation. This approach could also help researchers find out how abnormalities in translation contribute to human diseases, including muscle-wasting disorders. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13429.002