DATE2026.06.15 #Press Releases

Elucidation of the mechanism for clearing blockages in the ribosomal tunnel

Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.

YheS pulls on tRNA to restart the ribosome

Summary

Graduate student Haishi Yi, Associate Professor Yuzuru Ito, and Professor Osamu Nureki (also a Project Associate Professor at the Center for Cell Control Engineering, Institute of Advanced Research, The University of Tokyo) from the Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo; graduate student Kohei Yamazaki from the Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science, Okayama University;Associate Professor Yuhei Chatani of the Division of Environmental, Life, and Natural Sciences at the University’s Institute of Academic Research; graduate student Toma Ikeda and Assistant Professor Tadaomi Furuta of the Department of Life Science and Technology at the Tokyo University of Science; and Professor Hideki Taguchi of the Center for Cell Control Engineering at the University’s Institute of Comprehensive Research — conducted a study using cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM)  to determine the three-dimensional structure of a complex consisting of the translation regulatory factor YheS, SecM, and a ribosome that has arrested during synthesis.Based on the crystal structure, we performed mutant analysis and molecular dynamics simulations to elucidate the mechanism by which YheS releases the arrest.

Structure of the SecM peptide released from arrest by YheS

Publication Information

Journal Title	Nature Communications
Article Title	Structural insights into YheS-mediated release of SecM-arrested ribosomes
Authors	Kaishi Iso, Toma Ikeda, Kohei Yamasaki, Yushin Ando, Fumiya K. Sano, Tadaomi Furuta, Hideki Taguchi, Osamu Nureki, Yuhei Chadani, Yuzuru Itoh
DOI	10.1038/s41467-026-72863-1