Date : 14/03/2011

Laboratory

Centre de Génétique Moléculaire du CNRS
RNA structure and dynamics group
1 Av. de la Terrasse, Bât. 26
91198 Gif-sur-Yvette
Director : Frédéric Boccard

PhD Supervisor

Dominique Fourmy
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: +33 1 69 82 38 84

Subjects / Tools-Methodologies

1: translation/fluorescence microscopy, single molecule imaging
2: protein synthesis initiation/fluorescence microscopy, single molecule imaging
2: molecular motor/fluorescence microscopy, single molecule imaging

Summary of lab's interests

We investigate the role of RNA in cellular functions. RNA molecules are key informational,
structural, catalytic, and gene-regulatory molecules. The ribosome is an RNA-based machine
that converts genetic information into proteins. Translation requires intricate communication
between multiple components to achieve speed, accuracy, and regulation. A subset of
translation factors is highly conserved in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, suggesting similarity
in the basal mechanism of translation. We combine biochemical tools and single-molecule
fluorescence spectroscopy to investigate the dynamics of translation and in particular how the
ribosome moves along the mRNA.

Summary of project

Initiation of translation of eukaryotic mRNA is a complex process consisting of a number of
successive distinct steps. Among these steps, the most enigmatic one is the ATP-dependent
unidirectional movement of the 43S ribosomal complex along the mRNA chain at the region
preceding the initiation codon, i.e., along the 5'-UTR. The existence of this ''scanning''
mechanism was proposed more than two decades ago and is, at this time, based on the
principles of molecular Brownian ratchet machines. We will test this hypothesis using single
molecule fluorescence spectroscopy.