Principles of Translational Control
- 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, California 95616
- 2Goodman Cancer Research Centre and Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1A3, Canada
- 3Department of Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103
- Correspondence: jwhershey{at}ucdavis.edu
Abstract
Protein synthesis involves a complex machinery comprising numerous proteins and RNAs joined by noncovalent interactions. Its function is to link long chains of amino acids into proteins with precise sequences as encoded by the genome. Regulation of protein synthesis, called translational control, occurs both at a global level and at specific messenger RNAs (mRNAs). To understand how translation is regulated, knowledge of the molecular structures and kinetic interactions of its components is needed. This review focuses on the targets of translational control and the mechanisms employed.
