The parasite Trypanosoma brucei (left) and the structure of its mitoribosome. Yellow: Proteins of the large subunit. Orange: RNA molecules of the small subunit. Dark blue: proteins of the large subunit. Light blue: RNA molecules of the large subunit. Graphics: Group Nenad Ban / ETH Zurich
Sleeping sickness-causing parasites contain an unusual protein synthesis machinery. A team of researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Bern resolved its very special structure for the first time. Ribosomes are among the most important molecular machines within the cell that hardly changed in the course of evolution. Their function is to read copies of our genes, or building plans, and to translate them into proteins. Research groups from ETH Zürich and the University of Bern, with financial support by the Swiss National Science Foundation, used electron cryo microscopy in order to obtain the atomic-resolution structure of a very unusual ribosome present in the mitochondria of Trypanosoma brucei , the unicellular parasite that causes sleeping sickness. Their study appeared in the latest issue of "Science". Mitochondria are organelles that can be found in each eukaryotic cell.
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